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Friday 21 April 2017

Morocco’s Decision to Join AU Illustrates Royal Vision of the Kingdom’s Leading Role on Continent: Edward Gabriel

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Morocco’s Decision to Join AU Illustrates Royal Vision of the Kingdom’s Leading Role on Continent: Edward Gabriel

 Morocco’s decision to join the African Union (AU) "illustrates HM King Mohammed VI’s vision of his country’s role on the continent as a platform for regional economic, political and security cooperation," former US ambassador Edward Gabriel wrote in an article published Thursday on the website of the Council of American Ambassadors (americanambassadors.org).

"Morocco’s desire to play a stronger leadership role is seen by the king as rooted in the country’s historic ties throughout the region, as well as its long-standing outreach to build ties beyond its existing network in francophone and African countries on the Atlantic," the former US diplomat pointed out, noting that for HM the King, "the move has a cultural and economic logic, as well as a strategic one."

Morocco’s return to the AU "is a natural next step in his South-South economic diplomacy," he said, adding that "because of that diplomacy, at the African Heads of State Summit in Addis Ababa this past January, Morocco not only gained admission to the African Union, but it did so with the support of an overwhelming majority."

"Morocco is the second-largest African investor on the continent, and its soft power efforts are aimed at building up the knowledge and capabilities of the private and public sectors in the host countries," Edward Gabriel underlined.

MAP 20 April 2017