Morocco has made African integration and South-South cooperation the cornerstone of its foreign policy, said, Thursday, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita.
In a speech on the occasion of Africa Day, which coincides this year with the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the African continent, Bourita said that “our conception of Africa’s future lies at the heart of the Vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, recalled at the 29th Summit of Heads of State of the African Union”, noting that “since time immemorial, it is through its African depth that Morocco breathes, radiates and lives its multiple identity, at once multicultural, multi-faith and trans-regional”.
The King, added the Minister, “has cherished these relations more than anyone else”, stressing that the Sovereign has sublimated them, by instilling, in the continuity of the work of His Glorious Ancestors, a new dynamic with brotherly African countries, a dynamic that establishes the Kingdom as a committed partner, mobilized and determined to meet the challenges of peace, security and development, throughout Africa.
Under the leadership of His Majesty the King, the Kingdom is also contributing all its energy, mobilizing all its efforts and sharing its know-how, in the service of structuring projects, said Bourita, citing, in this respect, the Africa/Atlantic gas pipeline project, linking Nigeria and Morocco through the countries of West Africa, as well as the system of accessible and adapted fertilizers set up by the Kingdom to meet the needs of African farmers, and which carries the promise of better yields and greater food security.
“Supporting each other, unlocking the enormous potential of our Continent, and thus accelerating the sustainable growth and inclusive development of African economies: this is how we see the continuum between independence and development,” he noted.
“In a global context shaken by crises – political, economic, health and ecological – our African continent can no longer afford to be a mirror that reflects back to the world the image of its challenges. It must reflect the promise it makes to the world”, emphasized Bourita.
He added that, under the leadership of His Majesty the King, Morocco has indeed been working hard to get things moving on the Continent, taking a practical approach far removed from the logic of “diplomatic coups” and demagogic one-upmanship.
