Marrakech – Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita received on Wednesday in Rabat a senior envoy from the Democratic Republic of Congo carrying a message from President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi to King Mohammed VI.
The visit centered on rallying support for the DRC’s candidacy for the post of Secretary General of the International Organization of la Francophonie.
The envoy, Crispin Mbadu Phanzu, serves as DRC’s Minister Delegate in charge of Francophonie and Congolese Abroad. Speaking to the press after the meeting, he hailed what he described as “the excellence of bilateral cooperation relations” between Morocco and the DRC. He said the two countries are bound by a long shared history.
Accompanying him was Juliana Amato Lumumba, the DRC’s candidate for the OIF’s top post. Lumumba, 71, is the daughter of Patrice Émery Lumumba, the independence hero assassinated in 1960. She stressed the deep ties of solidarity and friendship between the two nations. She also recalled that her father had been decorated by the late King Mohammed V.
Lumumba pointed to a convergence of views between Morocco and the DRC on questions of solidarity, unity, inclusivity and sovereignty. She called for what she termed “a Francophonie of peoples, with peoples and for peoples.”
The DRC is among the African countries that have opened consulates in Morocco’s southern provinces. In December 2020, DRC inaugurated a Consulate General in Dakhla in a move its then-Foreign Minister Marie Tumba Nzeza labeled as an act that “concretizes the recognition of the full and complete sovereignty of the Kingdom of Morocco over its Sahara.”
The DRC’s OIF bid carries significant weight. With over 114 million inhabitants and roughly 57 million French speakers, the country is the second-largest francophone country in the world.
President Tshisekedi formally presented Lumumba’s candidacy on March 19. She held several ministerial portfolios between 1997 and 2001, including Culture, and is a graduate of the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris.
Lumumba faces three other declared candidates. The incumbent, Rwanda’s Louise Mushikiwabo, 64, is seeking a third term after first taking office in 2019. She served as Rwanda’s Foreign Minister for nearly a decade under President Paul Kagame.
Mauritania’s Coumba Bâ, 56, a presidential adviser and former minister, is positioning her country as a bridge between Africa, the Arab world, and the Sahel. Romania’s Dacian Cioloș, 56, a former Prime Minister and European Commissioner, is the sole non-African candidate.
Candidacies closed on May 15. The election is scheduled for November 15-16 during the OIF’s 20th congress in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The contest takes place amid sharp regional tensions. The DRC and Rwanda remain locked in a diplomatic and military confrontation over the conflict in eastern Congo, where DRC forces have been fighting the M23 armed group since 2021.
The OIF itself has faced internal strain after Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso announced their departure from the organization in March 2025 following their suspensions.
The OIF, headquartered in Paris, counts 90 member states and governments. Its Secretary General is elected for a four-year term by heads of state and government. French – the language of Molière – is the world’s fourth most spoken language, with 396 million speakers. Nearly two-thirds of them live in sub-Saharan Africa and the Maghreb.
