Morocco advocates for a strategic re-examination of the African maritime role, which revolves around three axes: blue growth; strengthened South-South cooperation and regional integration around oceanic spaces; and maritime effectiveness through Atlantic synergies, affirmed His Majesty King Mohammed VI.
In a message addressed on Monday in Nice to participants at the “Africa for the Ocean” Summit, co-chaired by Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, Representative of His Majesty the King, and French President Mr. Emmanuel Macron, the Sovereign assured that the blue economy is not an ecological luxury, but rather a strategic necessity.
“Sustainable aquaculture, renewable energies, offshore, port industries, marine biotechnologies, responsible coastal tourism… All these sectors have a future provided they are structured, interconnected, thought out in terms of value chains, and equipped with significant investments and adapted standards,” insisted His Majesty the King in this message, which was read by Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, noting that this is the essence of the national strategy, desired and deployed by Morocco, as a driver of growth, social inclusion, and human development.
His Majesty the King recalled, in this regard, the structuring projects undertaken by the Kingdom that have, in particular, reshaped the national port landscape, such as the large container port of Tangier Med and the future ports of Nador West-Med and Dakhla Atlantic, which will rely on a significant logistical and industrial ecosystem.
Regarding the second axis related to strengthened South-South cooperation and regional integration around oceanic spaces, the Sovereign emphasized that the effort must be collective, as the challenge is not only national but continental.
“It is not enough to share an ocean. We must think about it together, manage it together, and defend it together,” estimated His Majesty the King, asserting that “only a coordinated African approach can optimize maritime value chains, secure trade routes, and capture a more equitable share of global oceanic wealth.”
Thus, Africa must be involved in the protection of marine biodiversity, genetic resources, and marine protected areas, continued the Sovereign, noting that it is up to the African continent to establish maritime security mechanisms suited to its needs and to speak with one voice on the global oceanic stage.
Concerning maritime effectiveness through Atlantic synergies, His Majesty the King noted that the geopolitical dynamics in Africa cannot be hindered by the inertia of geography or the burdens of the past, recalling that Africa’s Atlantic coast is a particularly neglected axis, while it represents an immeasurable potential for decongestion, transit, and projection for the continent.
“It is in this spirit that we launched the Initiative of Atlantic African States, which aims to make this coast a zone of strategic dialogue, collective security, mobility, and economic integration, endowed with unprecedented collegial, mobilizing, and pragmatic governance,” explained the Sovereign, affirming that the Royal Vision of an Atlantic Africa valuing this ocean does not only involve coastal countries but also extends to brotherly countries in the Sahel, which have the responsibility to provide a structuring and reliable maritime outlet.
“It is in this same spirit of solidarity and shared prosperity that we have also initiated the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline project as an energy interconnection corridor and a vector of new geoeconomic opportunities in West Africa,” added His Majesty the King.
After highlighting both the wealth and vulnerability of African seas and oceans, the Sovereign noted that the environment is a major pillar of ocean governance, but it is not the only aspect.
“The ocean is our food sovereignty, our climate resilience, our energy security, and our territorial cohesion,” supported His Majesty the King in this message, noting that this ocean “reflects who we are, what we consume, what we exploit, and consequently, what we will leave behind.”
The ocean is and will remain “a link and a shared horizon that it is our responsibility to protect and develop into a space of peace, stability, and development,” insisted the Sovereign, affirming that Africa, which is never as strong as when it speaks with one voice, is at the heart of this ambitious project.
Morocco, with its 3,500 kilometers of coastline and 1.2 million square kilometers of maritime spaces, is energetically and determinedly committed to playing its part in the collective endeavor, concluded His Majesty the King.