The visit last week by the King of Morocco, King Mohammed VI, may have set the tone for a new level bilateral relations for the two African countries. Leading a delegation of 300 Moroccan officials and business leaders, Mohammed undertook a widely publicized visit that sent clear signals of Morocco’s new vision to re- engage with Africa and indeed reclaim her proper position in the international scheme of things. Visiting Nigeria for the first time since he ascended the throne on July 23, 1999, King Mohammed set out to connect with all facets of Nigerian society. This perhaps explained his meeting with Nigerian President Mohammadu Buhari, and, Nigerian business leaders. The Nigeria- Morocco Business meeting which held with the theme: “Business Climate and Investment Opportunities,” was intended to improve business relations between Nigeria and Morocco with the view to linking African markets for competitiveness. In addition, the King visited the Abuja central Mosque for the Juma’at prayers to apparently endear himself to the country’s Muslim leaders and elites who occupy top positions in business and government.
Mohammed’s visit to Nigeria clearly indicates that Morocco is re-launching herself on the international scene after over three decades of absence from the defunct Organization of African Unity (OAU) and her successor continental organization, the African Union (AU). Morocco left the OAU in 1984 when majority of African countries under the auspices of the OAU supported the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) declared in 1976 by the Polisario Front and subsequently admitted her into the OAU as representing the Western Sahara. Since 1984, Morocco did not participate in any OAU organized activity until July 17, 2016 when the North African country presented her intention to rejoin the continental body at the Kigali Summit.
Morocco’s decision to re-enter the AU is seen as a strategy to gain an advantage in negotiating the status of the SADR especially as some of her fellow Arab countries like Egypt and Tunisia refused to support the suspension of SADR as proposed by 28 members of AU who presented a memo to the AU Chairman, President Idriss Deby in that regard.
In apparent recognition of Nigeria’s continental influence, King Mohammed may have decided on the visit to woo Nigeria to the Moroccan side especially as South Africa, Egypt and Tunisia, other strong forces on the continent, appear to support the independence of SADR. This topic, sources disclosed, formed much of the closed door discussions between President Buhari and his guest.
Beyond politics however, the King made it very clear that he hoped to make the most economic benefit from the visit exploring avenues for cooperation at both the governmental and private sector levels. This objective informed the eight bilateral agreements signed between representatives of both countries under the watchful eyes of President Buhari and his guest. The agreements include visa exemption for holders of diplomatic and official passports, field agricultural cooperation, marine fisheries and cooperation, Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) and another agreement between Dangote Group and OCP of Morocco to expand fertilizers. There was also cooperation agreement in increasing local business capacity in agricultural Eco system.
There are indeed a number of areas for possible cooperation between the two countries. Morocco has a strong agricultural sector that offers opportunities for collaboration. With a coastline of 1835KM and 33,000 Sq. Miles of arable lands, Morocco’s agriculture sector contributes to over 18 per cent of the country’s GDP providing over 44 per cent of the employment opportunities in the country.
Morocco is a major exporter of citrus, fish and vegetables, all of which have a viable market in Nigeria.
On the other hand, Nigeria’s oil and gas exports provide the first trade interest to Morocco. In addition, the Cardinal Programme of the Buhari administration to diversify the economy to Agriculture and solid minerals presents enormous opportunities which should attract the Moroccan business leaders who accompanied the King on the visit. Nigeria’s vast market of nearly 200 million people, the largest on the African continent, remains a perpetual source of interest to a country like Morocco which is seeking to re-launch herself on the international scene. It remains to be seen how the visit of King Mohammed would translate to concrete economic gains between the two countries.
Nevertheless, new level of bilateral relations between Morocco and Nigeria is needed to strengthen the bonds between fellow African countries and generally boost intra- African trade. It’s a shame that African countries find it difficult to trade among themselves but are quick to forge trading relations outside the continent even where it’s more advantageous to engage fellow African countries.
It is expected that such bilateral relations will help African countries focus more on removing the barriers to intra- African trade for the overall development of the continent.