RABAT: Morocco’s state-owned rail operator, ONCF, is seeking $8.8 billion from investors to finance its expansion plan, the head of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has said.
He told reporters late on Friday after a three-day Africa Investment Forum in Rabat that investors were ready to extend ONCF more than the required amount, with financing offers totalling over $13 billion.
AfDB partners with other banks and financial institutions for some large-scale development projects it finances across the continent.
During the closed-door event, the bank could garner a total financing worth $29.2 billion for African development projects including water supply, energy, transport, private equity, tourism, infrastructure and pharmaceuticals.
Morocco plans to extend its high-speed train network to Marrakech before the 2030 World Cup, and further south to Agadir.
The operator also aims to stretch its network to double the number of cities it serves to 43, or 87 percent of the Moroccan population, by 2040.
ONCF was not immediately available to comment.
Moroccan rail operator seeks $8.8 bln funding for expansion plan
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Moroccan rail operator seeks $8.8 bln funding for expansion plan
- Morocco plans to extend its high-speed train network to Marrakech before the 2030 World Cup
Iran’s new supreme leader ‘safe and sound’ despite war injury reports: president’s son
TEHRAN: Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is "safe and sound" despite reports of an injury during the war with Israel and the United States, said the son of the Iranian president on Wednesday.
"I heard news that Mr Mojtaba Khamenei had been injured. I have asked some friends who had connections. They told me that, thank God, he is safe and sound," said Yousef Pezeshkian, who is also a government adviser, in a post on his Telegram channel.
State television had called Khamenei a "wounded veteran of the Ramadan war" but never specified his injury.
The new supreme leader is the son and successor of the Islamic republic's longtime ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 which triggered a war across the Middle East.
The 56-year-old Mojtaba Khamenei, a discreet figure who has rarely appeared in public or spoken at official events, has yet to address the nation or issue a written statement since he was declared supreme leader on Sunday.
In a Wednesday report, the New York Times quoting three unnamed Iranian officials said that Khamenei "had suffered injuries, including to his legs, but that he was alert and sheltering at a highly secure location with limited communication".
