Rabat – King Mohammed VI has ordered the Moroccan government to deliver medical aid to 15 African countries to assist them in their fight against COVID-19.
The King gave “very high instructions” for the delivery of medical aid to “brotherly African countries,” a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on June 14.
“This aid aims to provide preventive medical equipment to support the brotherly African countries in their efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic,” the statement said.
The total aid package consists of nearly eight million masks, 900,000 visors, 600,000 hygiene caps, 60,000 gowns, and 30,000 liters of hydroalcoholic gel.
Morocco will also send out 75,000 boxes of chloroquine and 15,000 boxes of Azithromycin.
The countries set to benefit from the aid include Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Comoros, Congo, Eswatini, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Tanzania, Chad, and Zambia.
The decision comes just a few days after King Mohammed VI ordered the same instructions in favor of Mauritania.
Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita informed his Mauritanian counterpart Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Morocco’s decision to send medical supplies to the neighboring country on June 11.
Mauritania expressed satisfaction with the initiative, describing it as “important.” The Mauritanian FM said the aid comes in “perfect timing” and testifies to the “strength of the remarkable relations between the two countries and the two brotherly peoples.”
That same day, the Permanent Ambassador of Morocco to the AU, Mohamed Arrouchi, called for the establishment of a platform of African experts on epidemics to consolidate the continent’s response to future health challenges.
He said such a platform would encourage states to exchange experiences in managing health crises and strengthen continental support for governments combating diseases and epidemics, including COVID-19.
The recent initiatives demonstrate Morocco’s efforts to help fellow African states in their fight against COVID-19 and reflect King Mohammed VI’s pan-African initiative to overcome the social and economic impacts of the pandemic on the continent.
King Mohammed VI announced the initiative during an April 13 phone conversation with the President of Cote d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, and the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, to discuss the challenges facing the continent.
During the discussion, the King proposed an “African Heads of State” initiative to establish an operational framework to accompany African countries in the various phases of the management of the pandemic. Several African states, the Pan-African Parliament, and international actors such as the EU welcomed the King’s proposal.
