The Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch, said that “Morocco, thanks to the high royal directives, is consolidating its position as a pivotal player and strategic partner in strengthening multidimensional cooperation between the countries of the continent,” stressing that “Morocco’s vision for Africa remains constant, represented in that it must control its destiny, transform its resources into added value within itself, and link its regions with each other, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, and from the coast to the maritime fronts.”
Akhannouch added, in a speech during the opening of the second edition of the African Continental Free Trade Area Business Forum, on Friday in Marrakech, that “this vision was embodied in the royal initiative for the benefit of the Atlantic African countries and the Sahel countries, where the Kingdom placed its port and logistics infrastructure at the service of 23 countries bordering the Atlantic, in addition to its neighbors from landlocked countries,” also pointing to “the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project, which is not just a gas infrastructure, but a strategic infrastructure that will pave the way for joint manufacturing in several sectors such as fertilizers, petrochemicals, building materials, and food industries.”
In another context, the Moroccan Prime Minister stressed that “the second session of the African Continental Free Trade Area Business Forum, hosted by the city of Marrakech, is taking place in the context of a clear dynamic, based on making the African Continental Free Trade Area more than just a free trade agreement, but a real project for the economic transformation of our continent.”
The speaker further explained: “We meet today at a moment when the numbers speak for themselves. Africa represents about 16 percent of the world’s population, but contributes only about 3 percent to international trade. Within the continent, our intra-African trade does not exceed 16 percent of our total trade, while this percentage in Europe and Asia exceeds 60 percent. Morocco, for example, despite recording remarkable growth in its exports to African countries in recent years, which amounted to more than 30 billion dirhams, this represents only 7 percent of the Kingdom’s total foreign trade.”
The same official stressed the need for “this forum to start from a clear diagnosis, as the African Continental Free Trade Area is progressing, but the gap is still large between legal ratification and the reality of our trade and economic partnerships,” highlighting that “the African Continental Free Trade Area is not just a timetable for removing customs barriers, but rather an integrated system that simultaneously regulates the liberalization of goods and services, protocols related to investment, competition, intellectual property, digital trade, and the inclusion of women and youth.”
Akhannouch affirmed that “Morocco, under the wise leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God grant him victory, affirms its commitment to strengthening the mechanisms that will stimulate free trade and achieve sustainable economic integration in Africa.”
In a related context, the same government official stated that “integration without finding solutions for financing will make us prisoners of projects at the theoretical level; and here one of Morocco’s strengths is highlighted, represented by the Casablanca Finance City, which is considered a major driver of African economic integration, in addition to our banking groups present in more than 20 countries on our continent, in addition to the recent accession of the Bank of Morocco to the Pan-African Payments and Settlement System (PAPSS).”
Factors that put Morocco, according to the head of government, in “a suitable position to adopt pioneering projects in the areas of local currency payments in Africa, securing loans directed to exports, and covering risks for the benefit of small and medium enterprises,” considering that “the African Continental Free Trade Area is poised to become the largest free trade area in the world in terms of the number of countries involved in it, as it stipulates, in the long term, the elimination of customs duties on 97 percent of tariff lines.”
Akhannouch called for “respecting the schedules for eliminating customs duties, and before that, providing a clear framework for non-tariff barriers that restrict trade, especially with regard to opaque procedures, frequent technical inspections, and excessive demands for documents.” He concluded that “Africa no longer needs someone to tell it that it is the continent of the future, but rather it needs us to create the conditions that make this future a shared present.” He emphasized that “Moroccans will bear their full share of responsibility so that African economic integration becomes a lever for prosperity, stability, and dignity for the peoples of the region.”
