Rabat – Morocco’s Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch is leading a high-level delegation to represent Morocco at the Saudi-African Summit held in Riyadh, alongside Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and several other diplomats.
The Moroccan delegation comprises key figures such as Mustapha Mansouri, Morocco’s ambassador to Riyadh, Mohamed Arrouchi, the country’s ambassador-permanent representative to the African Union, and Fouad Akhrif, the Director of the Mashreq, Gulf, and Arab and Islamic organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation Africaine et des Marocains Résidant à l’Étranger.
The delegation also included Director of the Greater Maghreb and Arab Maghreb Union and African Union Affairs Hassan Boukili, along with executives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Morocco’s missions in Cairo and Addis Ababa.
This first ever Saudi-Africa summit, currently held in Riyadh, aims to strengthen international efforts to enable the African continent to leverage its wealth and internal capabilities, maximizing the positive impact of the Saudi investments and development projects in African countries, both economically and socially.
Economic relations between Saudi Arabia and African countries have thrived recently, focusing on trade in metal products, plastics and their manufacturers, as well as fertilizers and organic and inorganic chemicals.
Saudi Arabia’s total investments in Africa currently stand at $75 billion. Mohammed Al Jadaan, the Minister of Finance of Saudi Arabia, anticipates the signing of development projects valued at $534 million with African countries by the end of the conference.
Morocco, in particular, has demonstrated a robust economic partnership with the Gulf country, evident in the substantial volume of trade between the two nations.
According to data from the Moroccan Ministry of Commerce and Industry, bilateral trade in 2021 reached approximately MAD 17.2 billion ($1.7 billion), with around MAD 10 billion ($1 billion) dedicated to the importation of petroleum and its derivatives from the Saudi Kingdom.
Projections indicate that this figure is set to rise to around MAD 50 billion ($5 billion) in the next four years, emphasizing the depth and significance of their bilateral relations.
