Laayoune Declaration: Morocco, ECOWAS Parliament Commit to South-South Cooperation

Rabat – Morocco’s House of Councilors and the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) released today a joint declaration emphasizing the need to maintain and deepen cooperation between the two parties.

The joint document, dubbed the “Laayoune Declaration,” was signed in the southern Moroccan city of Laayoune at the end of a working meeting between the speaker of the Moroccan House of Councilors Naama Mayara and the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament Sidie Mohamed Tunis.

In the declaration, the two parties emphasized the important role of the ECOWAS in promoting regional and continental integration and development.

Both parties also stressed the importance of South-South cooperation as a major mechanism to tackle shared security, political, and economic challenges.

The declaration also recalled strong relations between Morocco and West African countries, arguing that the North African country’s long-running partnership with most ECOWAS members fall within the framework of a “historical path, based on cultural and civilizational ties and common values of development, solidarity, and mutual respect.”

Commenting on Morocco’s role in taking the lead in addressing major regional challenges, the Laayoune declaration also emphasized the importance of strengthening cooperation between the Moroccan House of Councilors and the ECOWAS parliament.

The declaration reiterated the two parties’ determination to consolidate and deepen institutional parliamentary cooperation.

“We affirm the centrality of the role that of the House of Councilors of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States can play in strengthening the bridges of cooperation between Morocco and the countries of the Economic Community of West African States, as well as creating the frameworks and conditions conducive to achieving the desired integration,” the declaration stressed.

Tunis, the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, arrived earlier this week in Morocco for a working visit that has visibly entailed discussions about Morocco’s ECOWAS membership bid and an acknowledgement of the North African country’s well-documented commitment to South-South cooperation.

At the end of one of his earlier meetings with high-ranking Moroccan officials, Tunis notably made positive comments on Morocco’s bid to join ECOWAS, saying that the country’s admission to the West African bloc will be the “best thing for all of us.”

He added, “We are going to see generally how to work towards Morocco’s full membership of ECOWAS because we firmly believe that this is the best thing for all of us.”

Morocco announced its bid to join ECOWAS after its return to the African Union in 2017. And while the country’s bid is still pending approval, there is widespread consensus that Morocco is a rising continental powerhouse whose membership will significantly benefit the West African bloc.