Rabat – Morocco has ratified the African Continental Free-Trade Area treaty (AfCFTA), reiterating its call for African solidarity in face of economic challenges.
The 2019 treaty to facilitate free trade across the continent could increase continental trade by at least 52%, according to the UN Economic Commission for Africa.
UNESCO said that countries’ potential gains from the treaty would vary based on their commitment to the creation and implementation of national strategies aligned with the AfCFTA goals.
Morocco supported the AfCFTA initiative since it first came about. It considers the treaty a pillar for African economic integration and the basis for overcoming economic crises, such as those induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine.
In 2020, then-Ministry Delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad, Mohcine Jazouli said that the free-trade area is a platform for “all of us Africans, [and] a new step on the way to the unity and integration of the continent.”
“Our efforts should focus on establishing effective coordination mechanisms, through effective synergies,” he added.
Morocco’s Ambassador to the African Union, Mohamed Arrouchi echoed Jazouli’s comments during the treaties’ ratification ceremony on Monday along with the African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Bankole Adeoye.
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Arrouchi noted that the treaty will promote economic development and transparency, as well as consolidate African governance.
Morocco’s ratification of AfCFTA further highlights the country’s commitment to this initiative, he added.
Morocco ratified other agreements
Morocco also ratified two agreements on regional governance including the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption and Protocol to the Constitutive Act of the African Union relating to the Pan-African Parliament.
The agreements call for the modernization of national and regional institutions, consolidating values of democracy and transparency, and advancing regional solidarity and unity.
Additionally, Morocco ratified the agreement on locating the African Observatory for Migration and Development (OAMD)’s headquarters in Rabat.
The observatory aims to understand, anticipate, and act through the analysis of data related to the migration phenomenon and its causes.
Morocco further ratified three other agreements with national, regional, and international dimensions. They included the African Union Road Safety Charter, the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, the Bamako Convention on the Ban of Import into Africa and the Control of Transboundary Movement and Management of Hazardous Wastes within Africa.
The ratified protocols, charters, and treaties call for collective African action in the face of socio-economic and political issues, threatening the stability and prosperity of the continent.
By ratifying these legal texts, Morocco reiterates its commitment to African solidarity and unity and further consolidates its role as a regional partner and leader.
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