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The African Finance Corporation and Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP), a leading Moroccan bank, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to finance infrastructure projects in North and Sub-Saharan Africa, according to a statement released on Monday.

"Partnerships such as these open up Africa's infrastructure opportunity to more international investors and the sharing of expertise will contribute to devising innovative financing solutions for the infrastructure projects that will drive Africa's economic growth in the future," said Andrew Alli, AFC’s CEO.

The agreement was signed last week when a delegation from BCP, led by Mohamed Benchaaboun, the bank’s Chairman/CEO, visited the AFC’s offices in Lagos. Benchaaboun was part of the 300-strong delegation that accompanied King Mohammed IV of Morocco on a three-day visit to Nigeria from December 1st to 3rd.

"We are delighted to be signing this agreement in Lagos today,” Benchaaboun said. “We hope to work very closely with AFC in the future to identify potential financing targets and to collaborate on opportunities for trade finance risk sharing, particularly important when it comes to infrastructure projects. Our joint aim is for this to be a partnership that benefits not only Morocco but countries across the continent."

Based in Casablanca, BCP operates 1,326 branches; 641 distribution points; and 1,609 ATMs across Morocco. The company, which was founded in 1926, provides financing, investment banking, and asset management services.

The AFC said it finances and develops infrastructure projects across the continent, including in North Africa. In 2012, the Lagos-based multilateral lender financed the purchase of crude oil for refining into petroleum products by SAMIR, at that time the national refinery of Morocco, in an effort to develop the country's downstream industry. Since its founding in 2007, AFC said it has invested over $4 billion in projects across 26 African countries and several sectors including power, telecommunications, transport and logistics, natural resources, and heavy industries.

"Africa's huge infrastructure investment gap is estimated to be approximately US$90 billion every year for the next decade. While the need for financing is acute, strong returns for investors exist in African infrastructure,” Alli said.