Reflection on Morocco’s strategy towards Africa

Tags: Morocco, African Union, Africa, Western Sahara, lobbying, corruption,

Note for the attention of the Minister

Subject: Reflection on Morocco’s strategy towards Africa

Morocco has always maintained deep and secular relations with its neighbors in sub-Saharan Africa. The wave of independence in the 1960s allowed Morocco to confirm its African leadership by hosting the Casablanca Conference that gave birth to the OAU.

Morocco withdrew from the OAU in 1984, which had admitted the so-called « RASD » in violation of its own Charter.

However, this withdrawal by Morocco marked a real turning point in its African policy and allowed it to establish a vast bilateral diplomatic network in Africa and achieve numerous political and economic successes. The position of these countries on the Sahara issue has been a central point in Morocco’s attitude.

Morocco’s commitment to its continent of belonging has reflected its faith in an Africa strong in its wealth and potential and an Africa turned towards the future. This commitment is reflected today by the existence of increasingly dense economic, commercial, cultural and human links. It is also reflected by the increasingly important presence of Moroccan companies in Africa.

Morocco, which has, however, only 24 Embassies in Africa, including 16 in West and Central Africa and only 6 in East and Southern Africa, has the weakest network compared to countries of the same level (Algeria 30, South Africa 39, Nigeria 38 and Egypt 38). The diplomatic presence is largely concentrated in French-speaking countries (14 Embassies), to the detriment of English-speaking countries (5 Embassies). Morocco is almost absent from Southern and Eastern Africa, six Embassies for 23 countries, a deficiency that it would be desirable to remedy.

This diplomatic under-representation is also reflected in the agreements concluded with the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 3/4 of the agreements are concluded with countries, particularly French-speaking ones, of West Africa and Central Africa.

The affirmation by His Majesty King Mohamed VI since his enthronement of Morocco’s African vocation, the commitment in the new Constitution of the Kingdom of 2011 establishing Africa as a priority of the Kingdom’s foreign policy, as well as the many achievements of Morocco over the last twenty years will have to be translated into a new national strategy towards Africa.

This will involve highlighting Morocco’s assets as a pole of stability and credible partner and putting them at the service of Africa to face the changes and challenges of our continent, economic, political and security.

Similarly, the major challenges facing Africa (security, climate change, migration, development, etc.), the power and influence game played by African « local powers », as well as the covetousness that Africa arouses among foreign powers (old and emerging) « impose » a renewal of the Moroccan diplomatic presence in Africa.

In this sense, an objective assessment of Morocco’s African policy reveals three levels of relations: the countries of West and Central Africa considered as « friendly » countries or the « traditional back yard »; those of East and Southern Africa considered as rather « hostile » and finally the third category which groups together the so-called « fragile » countries, whose positions are globally influenced by the dominant countries in each region, Algeria, South Africa, Ethiopia and Nigeria in particular.

Such a perspective will allow Morocco to reposition itself at the forefront of a modern African agenda, in line with global geopolitical changes, and to promote its vision of an active and supportive South-South partnership.

As part of this diplomatic renewal, Morocco will benefit from continuing its policy of strengthening bilateral relations, while including it in a sub-regional dynamic as a frame of reference and vector of projection.

Relying on this sub-regional configuration will allow greater efficiency in our action, to the extent that the sub-region constitutes a determining lever for economic integration and the cornerstone of the institutional edifice of the Continent.

In view of the above, Morocco’s diplomacy in Africa may continue according to appropriate objectives for each regional « bloc », (i) that of consolidating and strengthening relations with traditional partners, (ii) that of ensuring a strong presence and greater involvement in the Sahel countries and (iii) that of improving the presence in the so-called « hostile » countries which are broadly divided between East and Southern Africa.

I – Consolidation of Morocco’s positioning in Africa in its traditional backyard:

In this context, the privileged bilateral relations that Morocco maintains with several countries in West and Central Africa should be further enhanced and developed.

The establishment of a new model of bilateral partnership will involve, in addition to the existing cooperation instruments (Joint Commissions), new frameworks; namely regular political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, the establishment of businessmen’s clubs and NGO platforms. Similarly, accompanying measures could be announced (preferential access to the market, visa facilitation, etc.).

In this context, the private sector will be encouraged to become more involved and should be supported by the diplomatic apparatus throughout Africa. Additional actions may be carried out by other actors (local elected officials and parliamentarians, civil society, etc.).

On this basis, the repositioning of Morocco in West and Central Africa could be promoted by the launch of the following measures:

Conclusion of new bilateral partnerships with Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Guinea and Gabon. In this context, bilateral relations with France could serve as a model to establish a bilateral High Level Meeting with these countries and invest in new areas of cooperation in terms of access to justice, decentralization, parity, organization of political parties, electoral observation, child protection, regulation of the audiovisual sector, etc. In all these areas, Morocco is a pioneer in its cooperation with European authorities and could play the role of « relay power » with Africa and a link for a rapprochement between Europe and Africa.

Strengthening Morocco’s presence in ECOWAS, through the establishment of targeted enhanced cooperation, where Morocco can provide added value, such as crisis prevention and resolution mechanisms as well as mediation. This presence could be further strengthened by launching an UMA-ECOWAS dialogue. During His Majesty the King’s Speech at the last ECOWAS Summit in December 2012, the Sovereign advocated the establishment of this dialogue (UMA-ECOWAS) in a dynamic of balance and strengthening of South-South cooperation in Africa. Like the 5+5 initiative, a dialogue and cooperation mechanism should be established with certain countries in this grouping.

Conclusion of a preferential agreement with UEMOA. This agreement, which has been under negotiation for several years, constitutes an important step to enable Morocco to improve its political and economic position with this regional organization, which will allow it to play a driving role for the countries of the region.

Several supporting measures can be put to the service of this Strategy:

Strengthening synergies between the different national actors (institutional and economic), with a view to developing an « Africa » ​​strategy in terms of projecting economic and commercial interests and identifying levers for export growth.

Improving the logistics offer, through the strengthening of communication routes at the level of air transport (establishing Casablanca as an air hub for all of Africa), maritime transport (establishment of maritime lines and grouped partnerships between the ports of Tangier-Med and Casablanca, and those of the Atlantic coast of the Continent), and at the level of road transport (contributing to the finalization of the Rosso River bridge, linking Senegal and Mauritania, as a prelude to the conclusion of a tripartite TIR agreement).

The establishment of a sort of informal Strategic Council to support the projection of economic and commercial interests in Africa, by involving the relevant ministerial departments (Finance, Trade and Industry, Agriculture, Health, Higher Education), public institutions (Maroc Export, Office des Foires, ONEE, OCP, RAM, OFPPT), representatives of the private sector (CGEM, Banking Group, large national companies), academics (Center for African Studies).

Establishment of new partnership in education and training. Morocco welcomes more than 8,000 students, including 6,500 scholarship holders, from 42 African countries in its higher education institutions. Initiate reflection to further strengthen this cooperation, with a view to positioning Morocco as a university hub for Africa.

Another area as important as it is a priority is that of establishing a dialogue which aims to protect religious integrity in West Africa, in the face of the rise of religious radicalism and Shiism.

Undertake concrete actions at the cultural level so as to enable Morocco to become an essential place in the promotion and development of African art. Reviving the African Arts Festival, whose only edition took place in Algiers in the 1970s, will be an opportunity for Morocco to highlight its African identity and history, but also to attract African intellectuals and artists. It would also be wise to promote the concept of devoting a « place » to Africa in all the festivals in our country. In this sense, the idea of ​​creating a prize for African film in the Marrakech International Film Festival could have a great impact.

II – Definition of a new cooperation strategy with the Sahel countries

The importance of establishing a new strategy for Morocco towards the Sahel countries is justified on more than one count. The instability of this area could have direct consequences on Morocco’s security. Another important dimension is the absence of a clear commitment within the framework of the UMA towards this region, which requires Morocco to react and anticipate through the implementation of consistent and appropriate cooperation actions.

While drawing inspiration from the approach adopted with regard to West Africa, the implementation of this strategy which could be based on an integrated and open approach, with the aim of contributing to the promotion of security, stability and development. This should result in the strengthening of, on the one hand, cooperation with priority countries in the sub-region, namely Mali, Niger and the Central African Republic and, on the other hand, the organization of CENSAD, as a vector of regional integration.

III – Improving the image and developing cooperation with “hostile” countries

In this context, Morocco’s action could be structured around several axes, including the objective of establishing trust and correcting the negative perception of Morocco. Such a perspective requires the implementation of certain fundamental actions, such as opening embassies in these countries, exchanging high-level visits and increasing support in international forums.

In this perspective, it would be useful to strengthen the diplomatic presence in East and Southern Africa, through the opening of new Embassies in Namibia, Botswana and Zambia (Southern Africa) and Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi (East Africa).

Alongside this sub-regional approach, the renewal of diplomatic action towards Africa could include, as a priority, the following initiatives:

At the multilateral level, Morocco will have to rely on its expertise to play a leading role in serving African interests. Morocco’s attitude since joining the Security Council in January 2012, to assert African interests within this forum (Ministerial Conference on Mali in December 2012), represents a further illustration of the role that Morocco is capable of playing.

At the level of African groups in major capitals, our Embassies can be instructed to play an active and dynamic role. A framework letter will be submitted to the Minister for consideration, to be forwarded to our Embassies concerned.

Strengthening Moroccan initiatives in Africa, in particular those which consisted of giving free access to the Moroccan market for products originating from African LDCs and the cancellation of the debt of this group of countries contracted with our country.

Rely on triangular cooperation, by putting Morocco’s know-how at the service of African countries, thanks to the support of international, bilateral and multilateral donors.

All of these prerequisites must be part of a strategy that builds on the achievements made with important countries, such as Kenya, and on the contradictions that exist between so-called « hostile » countries, such as Angola, which is seeking to emancipate itself as a regional power outside of South Africa’s predominance in Southern Africa.

Awareness-raising actions may be initiated towards these countries, via our Permanent Missions to international organisations (New York, Geneva, Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Brussels, Vienna), or by our Embassies in major capitals (Paris, London, Washington, Beijing, Moscow) or by our Embassies in their neighbouring countries.

This strategy will aim to « break » alliances, in the sense that the blocs of so-called « hostile » countries are not homogeneous and the reasons which drive their positions towards our country are far from sharing the same motivations, which vary between ignorance, hostility, political heritage…

In this regard, it is necessary to establish a list of priority target countries towards which rapprochement and cooperation actions will be undertaken.

For relations with Angola, it would be advisable to establish a strategy that relies on all the levers at Morocco’s disposal. Morocco’s good relations with Portugal could serve as a relay for strengthening relations with Angola and the reactivation of Morocco’s application for membership in the CPLP, Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries, could serve as a vector for approaching its member countries, including Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe and Mozambique.

Other actions can be undertaken with the aim of breaking the Algiers-Abuja-Pretoria axis, by relying on parallel parliamentary diplomacy and political parties and by investing in informal networks of influence and lobbying, in particular, with regard to South Africa which seeks to establish itself as an African regional power. Action towards this country should, in fact, be undertaken with the aim of rebalancing its relations with the countries of North Africa, by imposing Morocco as a pole of power and credible partner and exploring new avenues of cooperation where Morocco has recognized assets, in green economy, finance, telecommunications, etc.

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