«Africa is a priority for Morocco, it is not a ‘statement’ but rather a reality», Bourita says

Tuesday in Berlin, a Moroccan delegation headed by Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita participated to the third «G20 Compact with Africa» summit, held under the presidency of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In 2018, the Morocco delegation that attended the second edition of the summit was headed by the Minister of Finance Mohamed Benchaaboun who focused on the economic part of the event. This year, it was not the case for Bourita, who mainly talked politics during the summit, referring to the Kingdom’s commitment to Africa.

«Africa is a priority for my country, it is not a ‘statement’ but rather a reality, and it is at the center of the Kingdom's foreign policy», Bourita said.

Africa, a priority for Morocco

In Berlin, Morocco stressed that Africa has enough means to stand on its own. «Today, Africa does not need development assistance, as much as it needs to generate its own growth and, most importantly, translate it into development», Bourita said, adding that «development is none other than sustainable growth, which reduces structural inequalities, the very ones that generate instability and reinitiate the vicious cycle of decline».

The minister recalled that «2/3 of foreign direct investments (FDI) in Morocco go to Africa, which makes the Kingdom the second largest African investor in the continent and the largest one in the region of West Africa», adding that Moroccan exports rose from DH 2.2 billion to DH 21 billion.

Bourita concluded his speech by calling for strengthening the «Compact for Africa», an initiative launched in 2018 under the German G20 Presidency to promote private investment in Africa, including in infrastructure. Its primary objective is to increase attractiveness of private investment.

It brings together reform-minded African countries, international organizations and bilateral partners from G20 and beyond to coordinate country-specific reform agendas, support respective policy measures and advertise investment opportunities to private investors.

The initiative is demand-driven and open to all African countries. Since its launch in 2017, the CwA has sparked great interest. So far, twelve African countries have joined the initiative: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo and Tunisia.