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Rabat – Equatorial Guinea opened on Friday a general consulate in the southern Moroccan city of Dakhla, making it the third African country to open a diplomatic mission in the southern province in one day.
Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita attended the opening ceremony with his Equatorial Guinean counterpart Simeon Oyono Esono Angue.
Meanwhile, Equatorial Guinea is the seventh country to open a diplomatic representation in Dakhla in recent months. Earlier this year, The Gambia, Guinea, Djibouti, Liberia all opened their consulates in Morocco’s southern province. Guinea Bissau and Burkina Faso joined the fray earlier today.
These openings consolidate the growing pro-Morocco momentum on the Western Sahara issue.
Equatorial Guinea’s diplomatic move also reflects the central African country’s improving bilateral ties with Morocco.
The two nations count 40 years of diplomatic ties. While diversified, their current cooperation’s strongest point remains the education sector, especially college education and professional training.
Like with many other African countries, Morocco has provided scholarship opportunities to hundreds of Equatoguinean students.
The initiative is part of what some have described as Morocco’s push to cement its continental “soft power through scientific and cultural diplomacy.” But there are also talks of increasing trade and other linkages between Malabo and Rabat.
