Crédit Du Maroc Partners IFC on MAD 250M SME Loans

In Short

• Crédit du Maroc and IFC have signed a risk-sharing facility to expand lending to farmers and agricultural SMEs in rural Morocco.
• IFC will cover up to 50% of credit risk, capped at MAD 125 million, on a target loan portfolio of up to MAD 250 million.
• The facility is already signed and is being rolled out.

What Happened

Crédit du Maroc has partnered with the International Finance Corporation, IFC, on a new risk-sharing facility aimed at agricultural and rural small businesses in Morocco.

On Liners, Crédit du Maroc is listed as Crédit du Maroc. The agreement is structured as an unfunded Risk Sharing Facility, which is a guarantee arrangement rather than cash funding. In plain terms, the bank lends its own money, and IFC agrees to absorb part of the losses if some borrowers fail to repay.

IFC said it can guarantee up to 50% of the credit risk on a target portfolio. The guarantee is capped at MAD 125 million, about $13.5 million. The underlying loan book that can be supported is up to MAD 250 million, about $27 million.

The loans are intended for farmers and SMEs operating in agriculture and rural areas. That includes businesses across the value chain, such as inputs, storage, and local distribution, depending on Crédit du Maroc’s lending criteria.

Why It Matters

Agricultural SMEs often struggle to get bank credit because cash flows are seasonal and weather risks are high. A risk-sharing facility reduces the bank’s exposure, which can make it easier to approve more loans or offer better terms.

For Morocco’s wider economy, more rural financing can support jobs and local supply chains, especially when climate and price shocks make working capital harder to access.

The structure also signals what development finance is prioritising right now, practical tools that push private-sector lending, without forcing banks to wait for new funding lines to be disbursed.