09
Apr
Over the past decade, Morocco has tried to diversify its traditionally northern-oriented foreign relations southwards. Developing closer economic and political relations with Sub-Saharan African countries, Rabat hoped, would help raise Morocco’s regional profile and boost the Kingdom’s exports. Hassan II, the father of the current King Mohammed VI, started opening up to the continent during the last years of his reign in the late 1990s by signing numerous cooperation agreements and deploying the diplomatic corps of the Kingdom all over the continent. This represented a radical shift in Morocco’s foreign relations with Africa.
The current global financial and economic crisis has aggravated Morocco’s considerable domestic economic and social challenges, especially since European demand for Moroccan export products has slowed down. In need to diversify its export markets, Morocco has started to reach out to southern countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Mali. Moreover, in August 2013 Mohammed VI formally announced that Morocco’s foreign policy priority would henceforth be strengthening the economy, inter alia through closer ties with Africa. While Morocco’s main diplomatic and economic partners remain the countries of the European Union (EU) and the United States (US), from 2008-2013 the Kingdom doubled its exports to Sub-Saharan Africa.
Access and download the full FRIDE report at: http://fride.org/download/PB196_Morocco_religious_diplomacy_in_Africa.pdf