Rabat- Delegations from the two countries met at the 11th African Union summit on reforms in Addis Ababa. Saad Eddine El Othmani, Morocco’s head of government who led the Moroccan delegation at the summit, met with Mbagnick Ndiaye, Senegal’s minister of African integration.
Discussions between the two delegations centered on finding ways to commit more African countries to the 3S initiative, a 2016-launched platform which Senegal and Morocco pioneered from the outset.
Standing for “Sustainability, Stability, and Security” in Africa, 3S aims to help the AU achieve its most urgent goals, especially food security and irregular migration, according to Dakar and Rabat.
As it expects to collect funds and other economic resources from both African governments and international partners, the 3S initiative seeks to create over 2 million jobs on the African continent.
Within the context of stemming irregular migration among the continent’s youth—especially from rural areas— Dakar and Rabat have also pledged for more coordinated action to curb desertification.
The move would entail restoring about 10 million hectares of cultivable land. The two countries hope that more job prospects and sufficient food will markedly decrease the urge among Africa’s youth to leave the continent.
Senegal and Morocco’s push for an African platform to ensure security, stability, and sustainability is part of the AU’s broader reforms initiative that has been calling for structural reforms for nearly two years.
Since the launch of the reform process in January 2017, Paul Kagame, the AU’s chair, has repeatedly noted the continent’s need for more financial autonomy.
Achieving financial autonomy, African representatives have maintained, will allow for greater ownership of African policies on critical issues like security, migration, corruption, stability, and accountability of African governments vis-à-vis their own people rather than foreign aid donors.
Senegal is Morocco’s foremost ally in sub-Saharan Africa. Dakar
spearheaded Rabat’s return to the AU in January 2017 and has been a vocally favorable voice for Morocco’s aspirations to join the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
During their meeting in Addis Ababa, El Othmani and Ndiaye also upheld their nations’ historical and cultural ties. They insisted on greater bilateral relations and economic integration.
