Prospective Note on Relations with Africa

Tags : Morocco, African Union, Western Union, corruption, bribes,

Relations with Africa are a priority in our country’s foreign policy. Over the past months, our country has managed to position itself as an important player in the African agenda, both bilaterally and regionally, as well as with international partners of Africa.

Bilateral Relations: The visits of His Majesty the King have provided a framework for strengthening bilateral relations with Morocco’s key African partners. The enhancement of the strategic partnership with Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Gabon must continue to be a diplomatic priority in Africa.

The monitoring committee for agreements with these countries should be reinforced to serve as a tool for developing appropriate strategies aimed at establishing this partnership on sustainable foundations.

This partnership with these key countries should serve as a model for strengthening ties with other African nations close to Morocco, particularly those in West and Central Africa. These include Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo, Benin, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Congo, Comoros, and the Central African Republic.

Regarding Mali, it is important to continue the various actions and initiatives undertaken during royal visits, taking into account Algeria’s renewed influence in the Malian scene.

The third circle consists of countries with which our country already has a solid base of relations that need to be strengthened and diversified, as well as countries offering real and promising prospects for political and economic development. This includes Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Liberia, Sierra Leone, São Tomé and Príncipe, Djibouti, Eritrea, Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles.

A fourth circle comprises countries that offer encouraging prospects, either politically or economically, that should be exploited. These include Angola, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Tanzania.

The final circle mainly consists of countries in Southern and Eastern Africa, most of which adopt hostile positions toward our country, led by South Africa, Namibia, and Uganda.

South Africa, due to its political and economic weight at the continental and global levels and its decisive influence in its sphere, is an essential country with which it is imperative to consider improving relations. Opening political dialogue channels with both South Africa and these countries is crucial.

On the Sub-Regional Level:

Non-membership in the African Union, along with the need to complement Morocco’s economic openness to key partners in the North (European Union – United States) and the South (Turkey – Agadir Agreement), makes it more necessary than ever to conclude an economic partnership agreement with ECOWAS and CEEAC.

This necessity has become urgent due to the European Union’s conclusion of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with these countries, which are intended to replace the Lomé Convention governing trade relations between the EU and ACP countries.

Politically, CEN-SAD is the only organization that provides a regional opening space for our country. This organization, which includes 24 African countries, most of which belong to the Saharan-Sahelian zone, serves as Morocco’s Trojan horse to assert itself in the Saharan-Sahelian area and to thwart Algeria’s maneuvers aimed at excluding Morocco from processes concerning this strategic zone. It is imperative to safeguard the existence of this organization, invest in it, and make it an instrument to strengthen Morocco’s position on all themes relevant to the continent. Given the prevailing situation in Libya, it would be advisable to consider temporarily relocating the services of the Executive Secretariat to Morocco. It is also highly desirable to set the date for the next summit of the organization planned to be held in Morocco before the end of the year.

Creating a space for dialogue and cooperation in the North-West African region, comprising Morocco, Senegal, Mauritania, Cape Verde, and Guinea-Bissau, aims to consolidate our country’s openness in its natural area of influence. This space could be expanded to include the Canary Islands and the Azores.

On the Continental Level: The African Union is increasingly asserting itself as the exclusive framework for inter-African cooperation. This organization has indeed embarked on a wide process aimed at placing all continental integration processes under its auspices. Thus, all pre-existing sectoral African ministerial conferences to which our country was a member will soon be part of this strategy.

The African Union also aims to become the privileged, if not exclusive, interlocutor for international actors in the context of regional partnerships. This issue concerns partnerships between Africa and other countries and regions of the world: European Union/Africa, Japan/Africa, China/Africa, France/Africa, United States/Africa, Korea/Africa, Arab countries/Africa, South America/Africa, Turkey/Africa, India/Africa, Russia/Africa, Thailand/Africa, Vietnam/Africa.

Morocco, which has succeeded in imposing the « Cairo format » in most of these partnerships, should take steps to firmly establish this framework in response to the « Banjul format » that the African Union wants to impose to exclude our country from these initiatives.

This situation compels our country to define a new strategy that allows it to continue being an indispensable interlocutor on the African stage. This is a vital necessity.

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