Green finance, institutional trust and energy-transition governance in Morocco

Abstract

This article examines the institutional conditions under which green finance can effectively support Morocco’s energy transition. Existing research documents financial instruments and renewable-energy projects, but rarely connects institutional trust, instrument credibility and multilevel governance within one African stakeholder-based empirical framework. It asks: under what institutional conditions is green finance perceived as effective by Moroccan energy-transition stakeholders? The study uses questionnaire data from 200 entrepreneurs, bankers, financial experts, environmental experts and public decision-makers. Descriptive analysis, reliability testing and structural equation modelling show that perceived credibility and transparency are positively associated with perceived effectiveness (β = 0.797), perceived benefits (β = 0.740) and lower perceived barriers (β = 0.747), with p < 0.001 and α = 0.93. International cooperation appears operationally useful, but the strategic-appropriation dimension has negative reliability (α = -0.35), while the second model has inadequate fit (RMSEA = 0.156; SRMR = 0.144). No definitive structural inference is therefore drawn from that component. The article concludes that green finance operates as a governance arrangement whose developmental effectiveness depends on traceability, credible disclosure, domestic coordination and institutional learning.

Classification JEL: Q56; G18; Q42; O13.

Paper type: Empirical Research.