Rabat – The President of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embalo received Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita on Friday at the presidential palace in the capital city of Bissau.
Bourita said in a statement that he conveyed a message from King Mohammed VI to Embalo, expressing the monarch’s readiness to strengthen relations between Morocco and Guinea-Bissau.
Bilateral ties between the two African countries are “already strong,” following the king’s last visit to Guinea-Bissau in 2015, according to a statement by Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In addition, Bourita congratulated Embalo and Guinea-Bissau’s diplomacy for its successful presidency of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Embalo was elected as the new chairman of ECOWAS in July.
The Moroccan FM stressed that thanks to Guinea-Bissau’s leadership at ECOWAS, the West African country “is leading the way” in the ECOWAS region and beyond, in several regional and international issues.
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The reception ceremony saw the presence of several diplomatic figures, including the Ambassador and Director General of the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation (AMCI) Mohamed Methqal, and the ambassador’s deputy at the Moroccan embassy to Guinea-Bissau, Babana El Aalaoui Mohamed Salah.
During his visit to the West African country, the Moroccan foreign minister had a “one-on-one meeting” with Guinea-Bissau’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Communities Suzi Carla Barbosa, the statement added.
Morocco and Guinea-Bissau enjoy strong diplomatic relations, with the West African country consistently reaffirming its support for Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over the Sahara.
Guinea-Bissau’s President was among the African leaders who protested Morocco’s absence from the 8th edition of the Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development (TICAD), which took place in Tunisia in August. Embalo left the conference over the inclusion of Polisario leader Brahim Ghali.
