Rabat – Morocco has announced the launch of the operational phase of the royal Atlantic Initiative for Sahel countries, seeking to transform the region into a space for human interaction and economic integration.
Mohamed Methqal, Ambassador and Director-General of the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation (AMCI), announced the news on Friday in Dakhla during a panel as part of the “Morocco Today” Forum.
In the panel, he said that the operationalization of the Sahel countries’ membership in the initiative has already started, noting that the initiative seeks to foster economic integration among the region’s countries.
He also recalled the meeting held in Marrakech last year, convening countries like Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Chad. At this meeting it was agreed to establish a task force in each country to prepare the operationalization of the initiative.
Ambassador of Mali to Morocco Fafre Camara also commented on the initiative, noting that his country fully supports this “bold and credible” project.
He said that the plan offers the opportunity to develop and create new infrastructures and projects.
Lingani Hugues Christian, Technical Advisor to Burkina Faso’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, also commended the project, reiterating his country’s commitment to contributing to the “beneficial” initiative.
Several other officials and contributors participated in the panel, including Souleye Abdou Diop, Associate Director at Mazars, and Abdelmounaim Faouzi, President of the Africa Commission at the Confederation of Moroccan Businesses (CGEM).
The initiative received a positive response from many within Africa and beyond.
In March, Chad Prime Minister Succes Masra commended King Mohammed VI’s initiative, noting that the North African country has paved the way for South-South cooperation.
In February, delegates from national parliaments across Arab, African, and Latin American regions commended the initiative spearheaded by King Mohammed VI and the royal vision to boost access to the Atlantic Ocean for coastal countries.
In his Green March speech in November of last year, the monarch highlighted the strategic importance of the Atlantic coast, describing it as Morocco’s gateway to Africa and the Americas.
“Hence my keen desire to rehabilitate our national coastline including the part in the Moroccan Sahara region bordering the Atlantic, and re-engineer this geopolitical space at the African level,” he said.
“To keep pace with the economic progress and urban expansion witnessed in Moroccan Saharan cities, we need to pursue our efforts to develop a maritime economy that contributes to prosperity in the region and serves its inhabitants,” the King added.
