Morocco accelerates desalination to secure water supply by 2030

Morocco is implementing a massive strategic shift to ensure water security in response to prolonged droughts and increasing demand for drinking water and export-oriented agriculture. A central pillar of this strategy is the rapid expansion of seawater desalination capacity. The country aims to reach a production capacity of approximately 1.7 billion cubic meters per year by 2030, with several facilities projected to be among the ten largest in the world.

To fund these large-scale infrastructure projects, Morocco is diversifying its financial models. The National Program for Drinking Water Supply and Irrigation 2020-2027 involves an envelope of 143 billion dirhams, utilizing a mix of public funding, international loans, and public-private partnerships. Major projects include a significant plant in Casablanca and developments in regions like Souss-Massa, Agadir, and Tiznit.

This water strategy is closely linked to Morocco's agricultural sector, which is expanding its exports of fresh produce—such as tomatoes, blueberries, and citrus fruits—to European and British markets. While the technical and financial scale of these projects is vast, experts also emphasize the need for administrative transparency and integrity to protect these vital natural resources from corruption and mismanagement.