IMF, World Bank confirm Morocco meetings to go ahead after quake

WASHINGTON – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank will stick with plans to hold their annual meetings in Morocco in October despite

a devastating earthquake in September

that claimed about 3,000 lives.

The meetings are

scheduled for Oct 9-15.

The IMF and World Bank said an assessment concluded that the meetings would not disrupt relief and reconstruction.

Instead, they would “provide an opportunity for the international community to stand by Morocco and its people, who have once again shown resilience in the face of tragedy”. 

“As we look ahead to the meetings, it is of utmost importance that we conduct them in a way that does not hamper the relief efforts under way and that is respectful to the victims and the Moroccan people,” a statement said.

The North African kingdom had said in the aftermath of the Sept 8 quake that it was committed to holding the gathering - part of its push to promote itself as a bastion of regional stability and economic importance. The government has a BB+ rating from S&P Global Ratings, a step below investment grade and one of the highest levels in Africa.

The epicentre of Morocco’s most powerful temblor in a century struck south of Marrakech in the High Atlas mountains and damaged some of the city.

The annual meetings by the multinational lenders are the first on the African continent since 1973.

They are expected to give a major spending boost to Marrakech, one of Morocco’s top tourist destinations.

The upcoming meetings were originally scheduled for 2021, but had been delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Authorities have pledged swift aid for survivors and funding for large-scale rebuilding efforts in response to Morocco’s most powerful quake in 120 years. Makeshift camps have been set up around some of the major High Atlas towns, although residents complain facilities are limited.

The IMF agreed to lend Morocco US$1.3 billion (S$1.77 billion) to strengthen the country’s resilience to climate risks, the state-run Moroccan news agency reported, citing the fund’s managing director Kristalina Georgieva.

In Marrakech, too, those made homeless by the quake are camping along some of the main thoroughfares. The scenes stand in in stark contrast to the major revamp of the center that’s resumed ahead of the IMF meetings. Streets are being repaved and new gold-painted lampposts erected on King Mohammed V Avenue.

At Bab Ighli, the sprawling 45 hectares of low-rise buildings and pavilions near the Unesco-listed centre that will host October’s events, preparation is going full steam ahead. That’s attracted dozens of mostly young Moroccans who lost tourism work due to the quake and are desperate for informal day-labour.

“We need all the support we can get,” said Mr Mohamed Ghazal, 23, who has to support his bereaved family in Imlil, in the High Atlas about 64km away. Venue security turned him away, telling him to apply at the city job centre.

Bali Precedent

It’s not the first time the IMF and World Bank will hold annual meetings in the aftermath of disaster. In 2018, an earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Indonesia killed more than 4,000 people less than two weeks before meetings were to be convened in Bali. The event went ahead, with then-IMF chief Christine Lagarde touring the disaster site.

October also marks the start of what is normally Marrakech’s peak tourist season and industry figures are racing to limit the disruption. About 10.9 million tourists visited Morocco in 2022, a vital driver of the US$140 billion economy alongside agriculture and trade with the European Union.

After a wave of cancellations or postponements, Moroccan tourism companies are working to assure their counterparts overseas that it’s safe to send travellers, Mr Hicham Mhammedi Alaoui, vice-chairman of industry lobby group CNT, told online newspaper Medias24.

Taking a vacation is “the best way to help Morocco in these difficult times,” he said. BLOOMBERG