Rabat – Moroccan Head of Government Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri said on Thursday that Africa remains a top priority in Morocco’s foreign policy, as she represented King Mohammed VI at the third Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow.
El Mansouri’s participation in the October 28-29 summit marks her first official foreign visit since becoming Morocco’s first woman head of government. She took office following the September 2026 parliamentary elections.
Speaking during the summit’s plenary session, El Mansouri said Morocco supports stronger cooperation between Russia and African countries, stressing the importance of turning existing agreements into concrete projects that address the continent’s needs.
She said King Mohammed VI has consistently placed Africa at the center of Morocco’s foreign policy, pointing to several royal initiatives aimed at strengthening regional integration, improving infrastructure, and supporting economic development.
These include the Atlantic African States Initiative, the royal initiative to facilitate access to the Atlantic Ocean for Sahel countries, and the Nigeria-Morocco Atlantic African Gas Pipeline project.
The initiatives aim to strengthen connections between African countries, expand access to trade routes and energy infrastructure, and support economic development across the continent.
Morocco calls for concrete Russia-Africa cooperation
El Mansouri said Africa needs all its international partners and that cooperation can bring added value when it complements other initiatives, respects mutual interests, and produces tangible results.
She described the Russia-Africa partnership as entering a new phase, moving from planning toward implementation. Previous summits in Sochi in 2019 and St. Petersburg in 2023 established the foundations for cooperation, she said, but the next step should focus on delivering results.
The Moroccan official called for future cooperation to reflect Africa’s priorities, particularly food security, energy security, industrial development, and technology transfer.
She said Morocco remains committed to the partnership and is ready to contribute its experience to developing new areas of cooperation.
El Mansouri also stressed that Africa has become increasingly important to the rest of the world because of its natural resources, young population, geographical position, and historical and cultural diversity.
“Africa is not the only one that needs the rest of the world; the rest of the world increasingly needs Africa,” she said.
The third Russia-Africa Summit builds on previous efforts to strengthen political dialogue and expand cooperation in trade, investment, agriculture, energy, healthcare, education, infrastructure, and technology.
El Mansouri noted that trade between Russia and African countries exceeded $27.7 billion in 2025. She said the summit should build on these achievements while responding more directly to the development priorities of African countries.
Morocco-Russia trade reaches $630 million
El Mansouri also highlighted the long-standing relations between Morocco and Russia, noting that ties between the two countries have strengthened since they established a strategic partnership in 2002.
The relationship developed further during King Mohammed VI’s visit to Moscow in 2016, when the two countries upgraded their ties to a reinforced strategic partnership.
Trade between Morocco and Russia reached $630 million in 2025, according to El Mansouri. Moroccan exports to Russia also increased by 18%.
The two countries also maintain educational ties, with more than 7,000 Moroccan students studying in Russia during the 2024-2025 academic year.
“Despite a complex geopolitical context, we can express satisfaction with the fact that our exchanges remain at significant levels,” El Mansouri said.
She added that energy, science, and technology offer further opportunities for cooperation and called for both countries to explore these areas more closely.
As part of these efforts, the foreign ministries of Morocco and Russia recently established a working committee that held its first meeting in September 2026.
El Mansouri said Morocco hopes to use the summit to open new avenues for practical cooperation and strengthen political dialogue with Moscow.
