UAE gives Morocco $100m for clean energy

Oil-rich United Arab Emirates on Wednesday announced giving $100 million to Morocco in "financial support" to build solar and wind power farms, WAM state news agency said. The aid is aimed at supporting economic and social development, and supporting the drive to use clean and renewable energy, it said. The North African kingdom enjoys strong links with Gulf monarchies. The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council invited Morocco and Jordan in May 2011 to join the oil-rich bloc in the midst of Arab Spring uprisings that swept across several countries. The move was welcomed by Rabat whose new rapprochement with the GCC led to the signing of a partnership to finance development projects in Morocco worth more than $5 billion over five years.