Rabat – French President Emmanuel Macron has hailed Morocco’s “growing role” in Africa, saying that Morocco and France share a common policy towards the continent.
In a press conference held Wednesday evening in Rabat, Macron outlined a strategy for African development through economic partnerships. “This policy will consist of developing, with the help of private entrepreneurs and the educational and cultural world, a model aimed at rethinking a balanced relationship in Africa by relying on civil society.”
Asked about Morocco’s particular interest in Africa, through win-win partnerships and France’s desire to develop a new tripartite partnership between Europe, the Maghreb and Africa, Macron said that the two countries must combine their African policies and cooperate as partners.
“It is a reciprocal chance,” noted the newly-elected president.
Macron, who arrived Wednesday afternoon in Morocco accompanied with his wife Brigitte Macron, stressed that the two countries are driven by the same desire for development and growth of the continent. He added that Morocco’s recent admission to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will contribute to this initiative, and that it will be necessary to develop road and energy infrastructures and foster civil society.
Gulf Crisis: Dialogue is Solution
With regard to the current diplomatic crisis in the Gulf, Macron clarified that he had talked to leaders of the Gulf States in order to defuse tension.
“Our hope is to facilitate dialogue and clarify all the links and funding of terrorist groups from wherever they come,” he said, adding that the Gulf should remain stable.
Macron added that he will meet in the near future with officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
The diplomatic crisis came following the decision Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Yemen and Libya, and the Maldives in the early hours of Monday, June 4 to sever their ties with Qatar over its alleged support of “terrorism.”
Morocco expressed on Sunday its “neutrality” towards the issue in order not to “confine it to passive observation of a disturbing escalation between brotherly countries,” adding that “Morocco is strongly associated with the Gulf countries in all fields despite its geographical distance, feels intimately concerned by this crisis despite it is not directly involved.”
Earlier this week, Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita visited Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and UAE to mediate the current diplomatic wrangling.
