Tangier — The 17th MEDays Forum opened in Tangier today, drawing over 7,000 participants from more than 120 countries to address what organizers call a world of fractures and polarization.
The four-day gathering, running through November 29, brings presidents, prime ministers, and 300 high-level speakers to Morocco’s northern port city to discuss reshaping global power dynamics.
Brahim Fassi Fihri, president and founder of the MEDays Forum Foundation, framed the gathering as a platform for nations that refuse to remain passive in shaping their futures. “We are living in a time of fracture — political fracture, social fracture, fracture of trust,” he said at the opening ceremony.
“This is a South that no longer simply exists in texts or on maps, but weighs in facts.”
Morocco has emerged as a central player in this reconfiguration, with King Mohammed VI’s foreign policy making the country “an actor that is African by its identity, Atlantic by its ambition, Mediterranean by its openness, and universal by its vocation for dialogue,” Fassi Fihri noted.
The forum comes as Morocco secures international backing for its position on Western Sahara. Fassi Fihri recalled Morocco’s recent diplomatic win, as the UN Security Council resolution 2797 adopted in October recognized Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as “the most feasible” solution to the Western Sahara decades-old territorial dispute
“More than 120 countries officially support the Moroccan plan. More than 30 consulates have opened in Laayoune and Dakhla,” he said, citing recent openings by Gambia and Liberia.
Gambian President Adama Barrow recalled the opening of his country’s consulate-general in Laayoune in January 2020, reflecting “his country’s “belief that the Moroccan Sahel is an integral part of the Kingdom’s national heritage.”
He added that the recent UN Resolution 2797 “reflects Africa’s position that peace is built on dialogue and mutual respect.”
Morocco’s Atlantic initiative, launched by King Mohammed VI in 2023, aims to connect Sahel nations — including Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, and the Central African Republic — to the ocean through Moroccan infrastructure.
“The Atlantic becomes a new center of gravity where continents meet and energize through the basin,” Fassi Fihri explained. “It is from the Atlantic that the geo-economy of the 21st century will be written in Africa.”
Liberian President Joseph Nyuma Boakai delivered a direct challenge to global power structures.
“Africa’s natural wealth enriches others more than our people. Policies which shape our future are sometimes designed without the involvement of Africans,” he said.
“Africa must stand not as an object, but as an architect shaping our own destiny.”
Boakai called for unity on four fronts: geopolitics, security, economic governance, and regional integration. “No nation has developed by exporting raw materials alone. Africa must break from that,” he said.
He urged investors to support industries that process minerals and build economies rather than extract resources. “When investors adapt, Africans are no longer bystanders. Africans become contributors.”
Grenadian Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell brought attention to climate change’s devastating impact on small island nations. He described meeting with Jamaican officials after a Category 5 hurricane caused $68 billion in damage and displaced over 900,000 people.
His own country, Grenada, lost nearly all housing stock on two of its three islands during a hurricane four months before last year’s forum.
“Climate change is not a future scenario. It’s not hype anymore. It’s a lived reality,” Mitchell said.
“When we speak of reinventing the global equation, we speak from the perspective of countries for whom global climate policy is a matter of survival.”
The forum, often referred to as “the African Davos,” will conclude on November 29 with the MEDays Awards recognizing contributions to international cooperation.
The gathering positions Morocco as a bridge between continents and a leader in South-South cooperation at a time when traditional global institutions face mounting challenges.
