Speaking at a panel on Africa’s economic and political integration, during the 2nd MD Sahara, the former Central African Prime Minister Martin Ziguelé said that the Kingdom “has strengthened its footprint as a player in the African Union, thanks to its leadership in climate, security and migration.”
Since the return of Morocco to its natural family, the African Union, he added, the Kingdom has played an important role in developing strategic partnerships on the continent, while consolidating its position through its diplomacy of rapprochement with several regional communities.
He added that the African continent lacks cooperation, undermining its own development, highlighting the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) project as an essential tool for the development of this cooperation, in order “to build an Africa of growth and development, which can be competitive, fighting and integrated.”
For his part, the former Comorian Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Minister of State for Justice Fahmi Said Ibrahim El Maceli welcomed the holding of this forum which gives the opportunity to discuss “the issue of African integration, the root causes of African underdevelopment and especially Morocco’s major role, through the will and speech of HM the King who gives impetus to this South-South cooperation.”
El Maceli addressed “the issue of economic cooperation, energy and the need to pool together the means to finally allow Africa to play its role,” calling on to allow and promote cooperation between African countries to make Africa emerge.
The former diplomat also stressed that “Morocco is a very good example in its mastery of various technologies and has an important role to play in this cooperation,” recalling that “we have expressed our solidarity with Morocco on its sovereignty over its Sahara and we deplored the admission of the so-called ‘sadr’ within the African Union.”
In addition, the former Senegalese Minister of Foreign Affairs and former UN representative in the Central African Republic, Mankeur N’Diyae, called for “an Africa of solutions and not an Africa of problems”, calling for greater cooperation between African countries for better integration.
N’Diyae noted that intra-African trade is still very low, stressing the need to implement tools and mechanisms for rapprochement and integration, such as the FTAA.
Placed under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI and organized by the media group Maroc Diplomatique, the 2023 edition of MD Sahara is devoted to Africa, the actions undertaken by the Kingdom in favor of the continent and the Moroccan diplomacy’s achievements.
