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Dakhla – During His official address to participants in the 2017 edition of the Crans Montana Forum, King Mohamed VI described Morocco’s return to the African Union (AU) as “the most outstanding event of this year.” He also stated that it was “an irreversible choice on the path to solidarity, peace and unity between African peoples.”
The forum kicked off Friday in Dakhla. For the Sovereign, returning to the AU was equivalent to Morocco reclaiming its “natural and legitimate place” within the organization.
In his address, King Mohammed VI stressed the country’s continuing commitment to the betterment of Africa for all of its people, but underlined that it goes hand in hand with promoting Morocco’s interests and maintaining its territorial integrity.
Loyalty
“Loyal to its commitment, Morocco will be at the forefront of states which will contribute, with determination and force, to serving the continent’s interests and consolidating its peoples’ unity and cohesion. Morocco will not, however, give up defending its lofty interests, particularly its national unity and territorial integrity,” the King said.
At a regional level, the King praised his decision to request Morocco’s membership in the economic Community of West-African States (ECOWAS). The decision will prove invaluable in strengthening the economic and social bonds which already exist between member countries and Morocco. Where those bonds have been weak they will be shored up and where they are already strong, the ties will go deeper.
Win-Win partnership
As his address continued, the King noted that “at the regional level, I should mention Morocco’s request to join the Economic Community of West-African States, with whom we share time-honored human, civilizational and spiritual bonds, as well as special relations based on fruitful cooperation and active solidarity.”
King Mohamed VI cited the gas pipeline project between Nigeria and Morocco as an example of the type of meaningful regional cooperation that will benefit eleven African countries. He stressed that this structural project will not only transport gas between two sister nations, but will also serve as a major source of energy for all countries in the region.
In addition, it will help promote the region’s economic competitiveness and act as a catalyst for its industrial development. The King also said that it will enable members to organize the energy market efficiently and that, in turn, will have a major impact on regional integration and complementarity.
Step by step
Since the 2016 forum, Morocco has been keen to take concrete steps to implement its approach toward sister nations. That approach is aimed at strengthening cooperation at the bilateral, regional and continental levels simultaneously, said the Sovereign.
To that end, at the bilateral level, the King recalled the different tours he paid to all parts of Africa. He described the visits as helping to “open up promising new prospects for relations with countries with whom we used to have weak ties or no ties at all, in order to serve our peoples’ shared interests.”
At the continental level, and in conjunction with, the United Nations Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP 22) in Marrakech, the Sovereign reminded participants that He called for the convening of an “Africa Action Summit.” The summit’s purpose is to address the climate challenges Africa is facing and lead to strategies to achieve the sustainable development that will allow the countries involved to protect their natural resources.
“As part of the mandate entrusted to me by the Summit, I have been closely involved in all practical initiatives which can form the basis for our joint action in this regard, namely the ad-hoc committees’ ambitious regional projects aimed at developing the Sahel region, particularly Lake Chad and the Congo River Basin, as well as at preserving the special features of insular states. I have also been involved in the constructive initiatives related to strategic sectoral issues, such as food security in Africa and energy,” the King said.
Of great importance to King Mohamed VI is the creation and implementation of sustainable and renewable energy sources to meet the growing energy needs of the continent. The Sovereign asserted that “our countries must succeed in their energy transition and invest in renewable energies, given their huge potential in the areas of solar, wind and hydroelectric power.” He stressed that this will help address the current shortage, boost development and promote peace and stability in Africa.
To emphasize how such an energy transition can occur, the King used the story of Morocco as an example. He described Morocco as an energy model which has managed, in record time and without any fossil fuel sources, to make energy a pillar of South-South cooperation involving a number of African sister nations.
