Zenata Urban Development

The Zenata Urban Development Project in Morocco covers the development of a new eco-city located between Casablanca and Mohammedia (the “Project”). In September 2014, the EIB approved a loan of up to €150 million for a total Project cost estimated at €800 million. The resettlement required for the purposes of the Project affects more than 40,000 people, approximately 70% of whom are low-income people scattered across 17 informal settlements that are to be dismantled under the “Villes sans Bidonvilles”, Morocco’s national program (the “VSB”). 

In view of the above, and in line with the EIB Environmental and Social Standards,  the EIB required the promoter to develop a resettlement policy framework and a Resettlement Action Plan (“RAP”). The RAP, which was validated by the EIB, describes the resettlement program, the different categories of Project Affected Persons (“PAPs”), their entitlements and corresponding compensations, and the livelihood restoration measures.

The three complaints contain several allegations about various issues related to the resettlement process. Major allegations concern the:

• lack of eligibility and inadequate compensation for children who married and created their own families since April 2012; and
• lack of transparency in the eligibility and compensation process of PAPs.

One of the main issues identified by the EIB Complaints Mechanism (EIB-CM) relates to the limited gap analysis performed between the VSB and the requirements of the EIB Environmental and Social Standards (the “E&S Standards”). The VSB, which is the referential for the original resettlement of the dwellers affected by the Project, is not fully compliant with the E&S Standards. Consequently, the implementation of the resettlement activities as per the VSB resulted in non-compliances of the Project with the E&S Standards, such as: (i) lack of transparency and disclosure of the eligibility criteria applicable to PAPs’ resettlement, (ii) exclusion of PAPs from the resettlement process as a result of the use of a cut-off date of 2012 that does not take into account the demographic evolution, and (iii) demolition of existing houses before reinstallation and without a guaranteed written entitlement.

The EIB-CM Conclusions Report indicates that, in relation to some allegations, the EIB-CM found maladministration attributable to the EIB. This results from shortcomings in how the EIB conducted the appraisal and monitoring of the Project, specifically in relation to areas of non-compliance with the E&S Standards applicable to the Project. Accordingly, the EIB-CM in its Conclusions Report, recommended that the Bank informs the promoter in writing about the Project non-compliances with the E&S Standards and agrees on a corrective action plan, developed by the promoter with the support from the relevant institutions involved in the resettlement program, to bring the project back into compliance.

Monitoring

Since issuing its conclusions report in April 2024, EIB-CM has been monitoring the implementation by the Bank of the EIB-CM’s recommendations and suggestions for improvement. In September 2024, the EIB-CM performed a monitoring visit. In February 2025, the EIB-CM published a monitoring report (available below) which provides a detailed update of the actions undertaken by the Bank and of the corrective action plan agreed with the Promoter (see table 2 of the monitoring report).

 

The report concludes that:

• the measures proposed in the corrective action plan represent a significant progress to possibly remedy the issues identified in EIB-CM conclusions report. However, has indicated in table 2., some compliance gaps with the EIB E&S Standards (in particular Standard 6 on involuntary resettlement) will remain.
• That the corrective action plan needs to be finalized, agreed and implemented asap and should be supported by clear budget and implementation criteria.

 

The EIB-CM will update its monitoring report when the corrective action plan is finalised and implementation is ongoing.