Making Headway

Country Ownership:

Sharing Risk and Leveraging 

Resources in the Medina of Fez

Anyone who works at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) or at a Millennium Challenge 

Account (MCA) hears persistent ticking. It is the sound of the clock running on the five-year deadline 

for MCC compacts, which commences the moment implementation begins (which MCC refers to as 

“entry into force”). It seems to get louder as the compact’s end approaches. MCC and partner countries 

design projects with the five-year timeline in mind, and the time limit creates strong incentives to complete compact activities on time. Despite the care that goes into compact development, however, things 

do not always go according to plan. The Fez Medina activity, part of the Morocco Compact, is a good 

example of how MCC works with its partner countries to manage completion risks associated with the 

five-year clock. 

The Fez Medina activity is an ambitious and challenging undertaking. The project includes renovating 

four 14th and 15th century fondouks in the ancient Medina of Fez, as well as a public square called Place 

Lalla Yedounna (PLY), and renovating or reconstructing approximately 20 buildings surrounding PLY. 

The sites will eventually house production and sales facilities for some of Fez’s world-renowned artisans, 

as well as boutiques, cafes, restaurants, a hotel, and other services—all intended to improve livelihoods 

for artisans and to revitalize the medina, where an estimated 30 percent of the population lives below the 

poverty line. One site, Fondouk Barka, has been reserved for use by women artisans. 

www.mcc.gov

Fondouk Sbitriyine, pictured before and after excavation, awaits renovation.
Country Ownership: Sharing Risk and Leveraging Resources in the Medina of Fez | July 27, 2012 2

There have been many challenges. The medina, a living vestige 

of the past, is a walled, carless urban area founded in the ninth 

century and was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1981. 

It is one of the world’s most densely populated areas. Equipment 

and materials must be maneuvered through narrow passageways 

sometimes less than six feet wide, usually by donkey. Change is 

not always welcome—or easy—and time can seem to be kept in 

slower increments.

When the project was first proposed, none of the requisite 

market, feasibility or socio-environmental studies had been done. 

Architectural designs did not exist, and some of the sites were 

occupied by people who would have to be relocated according 

to MCC’s rigorous resettlement guidelines. The Government of 

Morocco had been trying for more than two decades to rehabilitate PLY, but it faced stiff opposition to relocating some of the 

polluting activities, which were creating environmental, health 

and safety hazards. 

Now, nearly four years into the compact, most of these obstacles 

have been overcome. Reconstruction of the fondouks, though still 

facing risks, is expected to be completed before the end of the 

compact. A resettlement action plan to improve the livelihoods of 

more than 1,000 project-affected-persons has been developed and 

implemented. A MCC-sponsored open international architectural 

design competition for PLY drew worldwide attention and participation from over 175 architectural teams, representing more than 

40 countries. The competition generated an unprecedented level 

of public consultation and dialogue about the future of the medina 

and how to revitalize it while respecting its rich cultural, social 

and architectural heritage. (See the architectural competition 

website for more information: http://www.projectcompetition-fez.

com/projects_projectcompetition-fez_home_e.htm) 

MCC and the Government of Morocco have closely monitored 

progress and continuously assessed, managed and attempted to 

mitigate completion risk. Earlier this year, it became clear that, 

despite everyone’s best efforts, construction and rehabilitation 

at PLY was unlikely to be fully completed before the end of the compact. The parties faced a difficult 

decision: either stop the project immediately or find a creative way to complete it—even if some of the 

work had to continue after MCC’s funding stops in September 2013. Exhibiting a commitment to country 

ownership, the Moroccan government committed to financing and completing all work that remains unfinished at the compact’s end. In addition, the government agreed to pre-finance these works, and MCC 

committed to reimburse the government for defined packages of work completed before the end of the 

compact. This creative risk-sharing mechanism is the first of its kind for MCC and has allowed the project 

to proceed, notwithstanding an acknowledgement by the Moroccan government that work will continue 

beyond September 2013. 

Narrow passages define the medina.

Metal workers work in cramped quarters 

in PLY.
Country Ownership: Sharing Risk and Leveraging Resources in the Medina of Fez | July 27, 2012 3

The importance of this goes well beyond securing the necessary post-compact funding for completion of 

the project. MCC took a calculated risk in agreeing to fund the project. The Moroccan government has 

stepped up to share that risk, proving that the Fez project is truly aligned with the country’s national development priorities. In the end, U.S. taxpayer funds are leveraging the Moroccan government’s resources 

in a great example of a real development partnership. At the same time, in-country capacity building 

continues as the project is being implemented to MCC’s rigorous procurement, environmental and social 

assessment, fiscal accountability, and monitoring and evaluation standards, which provide an opportunity 

to reach better, more sustainable outcomes. 

There is a 14th century bridge called Bim Lamdoun at PLY. Its name is Arabic for “between two cities” 

because it connects the al-Qarawiyine and al-Andalous sides of the old city. The bridge has come to 

symbolize this project—the link between Fez’s rich past, its revitalized future and the shared commitment 

of the United States and Morocco. That shared commitment and the principle of country ownership are 

enabling the completion of a complicated and challenging project that might take longer than five years 

but promises to stimulate economic growth and reduce poverty well into the future. 

Existing conditions at the Bim Lamdoun Bridge Conceptual design of the new PLY.

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