Morocco Marks Throne Day, Dreams Continental Influence

Morocco marks this year’s Throne Day uniquely proud of its status as a stable, peaceful Arab nation, governed smoothly by a democratically elected government; and, ready to assert itself in African politics with a demand for unconditional readmission into the African Union (AU) it had left 32 years ago.

Throne day traditionally celebrates the day seventeen years ago in July 1999 when the king, whose original name is Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan, took the throne as King Mohammed VI.

Thanks to King Mohammed VI, the country’s successful transition from traditional kingdom to a modern global player, envied throughout the Arab and Muslim world, means that today more than ever Morocco is a key force not only in the region, but also throughout Africa.

Seventeen years ago, King Mohammed VI faced a sizeable challenge: successfully juggling the need for change with the apparent political and economic inertia in his deeply traditional kingdom.

Today, the monarch has met the challenge, taking Morocco through a remarkable political opening process that has encouraged social pluralism.

Since ascending the throne, King Mohammed VI has instituted, accelerated and consolidated a range of social, democratic and economic reforms to improve the lives of Moroccans and strengthen the Kingdom’s institutions. The King’s reign has seen him tackling issues of poverty, improving foreign relations and enacting a number of political reforms that have reduced his own powers and strengthened the Moroccan parliament.

A Moroccan economic priority under King Mohammed VI has been renewable energy. The kingdom imports almost all of its fossil fuels. Because of this unsustainable situation, Mohammed VI has emphasized the need for the country to switch to new sources of clean energy. As announced by the king at the COP 21 meetings in Paris in December 2015, by the end of the decade, renewables should represent 42 percent of the energy mix (compared with the current 19 percent). Symbolic of this new green path are the Tarfaya wind park, Africa’s biggest, and the solar park, among the world’s largest, that is currently under construction at Ouarzazate. The COP 22 will be held this year in Marrakech.

Morocco, over the last ten years, has also recorded an average growth of between 4.2 per cent to 4.3 per cent in a year, making it one of the most resilient economies on the continent.

A new development model developed by the King after wide consultation seeks to double the country’s GDP in the next ten years which is expected to create more than a 100,000 jobs.

Moroccan companies have presence in over 25 African countries with expertise in technology and communications, construction, agriculture, manufacturing, finance and many more.

The Attijariwafa Bank is now the top banking group in the CFA franc zone by number of branches, and the cumulative economic weight of the five Moroccan banks makes them the major banking force in Africa; and, 55 percent of Royal Air Maroc’s traffic goes to African countries, making Casablanca a regional hub.

Morocco is now the best-connected African country by sea routes, according to a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report, and saw a 20 percent increase in 2015 in the number of containers going through its ports.

The most recent visits by King Mohammed VI with more than 70 entrepreneurs to sub-Saharan Africa bear witness to the strategy’s achievements on the diplomatic and economic levels, and demonstrate the growing Moroccan influence in Africa.

More than ever, the development of this South-South cooperation reinforces the role of the Kingdom of Morocco as a major geopolitical player within the continent and on the global economic stage.

In an effort to improve agriculture and food safety in Ghana, OCP Africa, a Moroccan agro based firm, recently launched its operations to enable the country achieve its objectives in the agricultural sector.

The company, which has global presence, with the view of producing modern farming equipment and improving the farming methods, also has the capacity to boost the agricultural sector.

Other Moroccan companies, including Bank of Africa and Saham Insurance continue to play crucial roles in Ghana’s financial sector, guaranteeing financial security and wealth in Ghana’s developing economy.

Moroccan construction firm, Addoha Group, had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of Ghana to construct 10,000 social housing units over seven years, valued at 250 million euros.

And to ensure that essential materials needed for the construction of the social housing units are made in Ghana, Addoha Group also begun the construction of a cement factory at Tema, valued at 60 million euros.

For the past 10 years sponsored a lot of Ghanaians to undertake various undergraduate and graduate programmes in Morocco.

The programme is intended to help Ghana address its human resource challenges in the areas of health, education, tourism and agriculture.

But, Morocco’s involvement in Ghana’s economy is not surprising: At independence Ghana and Morocco had similar continental ambitions.

Ghana's first President Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah and Morocco's King Mohammed V played crucial roles in the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU, now African Union or AU) through their strategic leadership of the Casablanca Group.

The Casablanca Group which also comprised Algeria, Egypt, Guinea, Libya and Mali pursued a radical, progressive stance in the then burgeoning Africa emancipation struggle, and shared values on the question of African unity, which culminated in the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963.

Ghana and Morocco have also been important members of the non-aligned movement since 1961, more reason why, as the Kingdom marks its anniversary, the two countries need to re-commit themselves to continue to work together to enable each of them attain her core objectives of improving the lives of their citizens. .

Hitherto, the different languages spoken in both countries was a challenge. French is the dominant language spoken in Morocco while English is the dominant formal language spoken in Ghana.

Now, however, increased investments in Ghana by Morocco indicates the challenge was being addressed by technology which currently makes it easier to bridge the gap of communication between the two countries.

In February last year, in Rabat, Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Salaheddine Mezouar, and the Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hanna Tetteh, co-chaired the First Moroccan-Ghanaian Joint Commission in Rabat.

The session was marked by the signing of agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoU) concerning the areas of export promotion, development of skills for Ghanaian students, technicians and professionals, technical training and the promotion of trade and maritime trade.

The joint commission was geared towards the establishment of a political framework that would enlarge the sphere of exchanges to comprise other sectors and stakeholders in Ghana with their Moroccan counterparts. It sought to explore new areas and opportunities of cooperation and to develop the means of partnership between Morocco and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Indeed, many African countries through their relationship with the Kingdom have benefited from academic scholarship schemes, financial support, business training programmes among others.

These are symbolic gestures which have deepened the bond between the Kingdom and fellow African countries, with Ghana being one of the beneficiaries.

Recently, the Kingdom formally applied to the continent’s African Union to re-join the group it exited in 1984.

The current bond between the Kingdom and dozens of African countries, through established diplomatic ties, reinforces its quest to re-join the continent.

Therefore, as the continental body speeds up the processes for economic integration, the acceptance of Morocco to the AU is an urgent step whose time has come.