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Rabat – Two years after German Chancellor Angela Merkel launched the G20 Compact with Africa, Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita told the group that Morocco is moving forward and making huge investments in Africa. The G20 Compact with Africa met in Berlin for a summit Tuesday, November 19.
In a context of the compact having “fallen short of expectations” in the words of German news outlet Deutsche Welle, Bourita touted Morocco’s increased investments in Africa. “To say that Africa is a priority for my country is not just words but a reality. It is at the center of the foreign policy of the kingdom,” Bourita said, as quoted by Maghreb Arab Press.
Bourita highlighted that, of African countries, Morocco invests the second most into Africa. Rather than aid, Bourita said, investment is key. He stated that the continent needs to produce its own growth instead of receiving development assistance.
The G20 Compact with Africa is an initiative Merkel implemented in the wake of Europe’s refugee and migrant crisis. European countries have proposed that if the economic outlook of developing countries were brighter, fewer people would try to immigrate to Europe irregularly.
The compact’s 12 African partners are primarily in Francophone North and West Africa: Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Benin. The notable exceptions to the Francophone countries are Egypt, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Ghana.
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While the compact’s goal is to promote private investment in Africa to encourage economically sustainable growth, it sought to do so by encouraging countries to adopt economic reforms.
In her speech at the forum, Merkel noted that German investment, and investment from other G20 countries, tends to go towards places with transparency and good governance.
Bourita explained that the developed world should engage with African countries as peers. “The interest of Africa,” he said, is in “the partnership of equals and win-win solutions.”
