2023-12-25 01:19:00
If Nouakchott did not participate in the ministerial meeting with Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Chad convened by Rabat, Nasser Bourita indicated during the closing press conference that King Mohammed VI cannot conceive of success of the Atlantic Initiative without real involvement from Mauritania
The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Chad expressed, on December 23 in Marrakech, the support of their countries for the International Initiative of King Mohammed VI to promote access for the Sahel States to the Atlantic Ocean, which offers great opportunities for the economic transformation of the entire region.
In the final communiqué sanctioning the work of the Ministerial Coordination Meeting, organized at the invitation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans living abroad, Nasser Bourita, the heads of diplomacy of these African countries expressed their support for this Initiative of regional and international scope.
The chief diplomats of the Sahel countries brought together by Morocco each agreed to create a national task force to prepare and propose the modalities for operationalizing the Royal Initiative.
It remains that Morocco’s offer to make available to the Sahel States its road, port and railway infrastructure and also customs facilities with a view to strengthening their participation in international trade remains dependent on the involvement of Mauritania which has an Atlantic facade, but above all whose vast territory is interspersed between Morocco and Mali.
Mauritanian ambivalence
If Nouakchott did not participate in the ministerial meeting convened by Rabat, Bourita indicated during the closing press conference that King Mohammed VI believes that “the success of this initiative cannot be imagined without the constructive, positive and concrete involvement of Mauritania”.
Could Mauritania subsequently join the quartet of Sahel countries invited by the Kingdom? The proposal was introduced by Nasser Bourita to his Mauritanian counterpart on the sidelines of the Russia-Arab World Forum which recently closed in Marrakech. However, he did not indicate whether the southern neighbor had welcomed this invitation to join the process.
Several factors are favorable to this: trade between Morocco and Mauritania experienced unprecedented growth in 2022, reaching nearly 300 million dollars, an increase of almost 60% in two years. Morocco is by far the leading supplier to the Mauritanian market in Africa, representing around 50% of its imports from the continent thanks to excellent connectivity and the smooth flow of trade via the Guerguerat border post.
In addition, the two countries have consolidated their military cooperation for the security of the Sahel and the Maghreb illustrated by the recent meeting of the Moroccan-Mauritanian joint military commission. Several agreements have been reactivated recently, particularly in the economic field, notably energy and professional training.
However, Nouakchott, which also maintains relations with Algiers and the Polisario, plays the card of diplomatic equidistance in the Maghreb.
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