Morocco: Africa’s Gateway and Window to the World

In his historic speech in commemoration of the 48th anniversary of the Green March, King Mohammed VI announced that the Atlantic interface is Morocco’s gateway to Africa and its window to the world.

As such, the monarch continued, Morocco’s goal is to transform this interface into a hub for human communication, economic integration, as well as continental and international compatibility.

Throughout his speech, recalled the civilizational, political, economic, and diplomatic dimensions of his vision for Morocco’s standing on the world stage, especially its commitment to African prosperity and its growing Pan-African leadership.

As he sees it, Morocco’s consolidation of its African identity goes through its demonstration of its unwavering commitment to advancing peace, stability, and prosperity across the continent. In so doing, the North African kingdom not only strengthens its affiliation to the continent, but also — and more significantly — helps dismantle all the allegations and conspiracies aimed at questioning the fundamentals of Morocco’s African identity and pan-African pedigrees. And so, in its constant efforts to showcase the depth of its African dimension, Morocco continues to strive to:

– Refute the conspiracies aiming to separate it from its African dimension, and which tend to make the Moroccan Sahara a dividing wall instead of a bridge of belonging, communication, partnership, and African development.

– Recall to observers and critics the country’s history in its commercial dimension, with a special focus on when Morocco was a bridge between Africa and the world, and when caravans used to make pilgrimages to Moroccan economic capitals to connect the world to the African continent.

– Emphasize the just and sustainable strategic partnership that King Mohammed VI constantly calls for in his speeches and during successive visits to Africa, a large part of which has been implemented in many bilateral agreements.

– Consolidate the great value of the Moroccan approach to the continent, so that Moroccan-African relations are based on the sharing of benefits and cooperation for security and development, far from traditional commercial logic, and also so that Africa progresses thanks to its human capital.

– Cement the Moroccan policy of making national qualifications available to friendly and partner countries, as they are for the benefit of the nation first and Africa second.

– Find a solution to the dilemma of the high cost of logistics in Africa, countries with great and diverse wealth and qualifications but suffering from a lack of access to international markets.

– Cement the role and importance of the Moroccan Sahara, especially the Dakhla region, as a maritime, air and land logistics space for Africa and the world, as well as a commercial, industrial, and services center. This calls for accelerating the completion of a new airport in Dakhla, which will be a qualitative addition to the Atlantic port and the motorway.

For this reason and as a contribution to this proposal, I call for the following:

– The contribution of African actors and investors, especially Moroccans, to this dynamic by giving preference to African companies and adopting a system similar to the national preference system adopted by Morocco in public transactions.

– The development of a system of scientific research and technical training to respond to African needs.

– The preservation of African wealth and the reflection of that wealth in all sectors, including equipment, construction, tourism and cultural revitalization.

– The strengthening of the security system, the investment management, the administration, the customs, the health and the reception services.

– The establishment of an African Observatory for Development in African countries for monitoring, evaluation, and alerting.

Good luck to Africa’s Morocco.

Aziz Rabah is a member of the Justice and Development Party and a former Minister of Transportation.