Attijariwafa Bank of Morocco is in the midst of preparing a foreign bond issue expected to be worth US$500 million. The purpose of the bond float, according to the bank is to finance projects.

According to Chief Executive Mohamed El Kettani, in an interview with Reuters, "We have the approval of our general assembly, so we can go for US$500 million at any time. The management will decide for the moment, it's open."

He made these remarks on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the African Development Bank held in Marrakesh.

The bank has committed itself to many heavy industry projects located all over the country. Chief amongst them are renewable energy projects which is on the rise in Africa and the bond float is a means to buttress its financial resources as it goes in head first into the projects.

The bank, whose majority owner is the Moroccan royal family's investments holdings firm, earlier this month completed the details of the purchase of a majority stake in the International Bank for Africa. It also announced it was able to raise 1.25 billion dirhams or US$146 million in the domestic financial markets.