eWeekly Middle East
The Moroccan government needs over US$103 million to repair roads in the country destroyed by the heavy storms that battered southern Morocco last November, according to the Minister of Equipment, Transport and Logistics, Mr Aziz Rebbah.
According to the government, the road network in the flood-stricken areas is of 62,000 km, of which 19,000 km are untarred, as well as 7500 bridges including 505 that had been submerged by water.
The government has also identified at least 400 areas throughout the country that are susceptible to natural disasters.
Despite the flood toll and the potential for further natural disasters, the government has not acquired Civil Engineering Completed Risks (CEFR) insurance cover for infrastructure in the country, reported La Vie Eco. The cover is designed to cover the civil engineering structures completed against loss, unexpected and sudden physical damage caused notably by lightning, earthquake, volcanoes, storms, flooding, waves or water, landslides, avalanches and others.
Insurance experts say that this is because in Morocco, the market does not yet exist. The government has yet to formulate the legal framework for this type of coverage. Local insurers have not developed products offering such cover because of the technical aspects of the cover and the amount of capital involved. There are also no statistical series and risk mapping that would help insurers price the risk.
However, public companies and offices, including those managing large infrastructure, do purchase natural disaster cover in the international market. For instance, the Tangier Mediterranean Special Agency, which is responsible for the planning, development and management of the Tangier Med port complex, has taken up a MAD3-billion (US$329 million) natural disaster cover for the port. Infrastructure projects, especially those financed on credit by major donors, are also insured against natural disasters.
