The meeting of the Presidents of African Parliaments, which was held yesterday in Midrand in South Africa, saw a hushed exchange of arms between Morocco and Algeria. In his speech, the President of the Chamber of Deputies of Morocco especially emphasized “the full involvement of the kingdom in the development of Africa by relentlessly advocating the causes of South-South partnership”.
Rachid Talbi Alami took this platform to reiterate Morocco’s willingness to forge win-win partnerships with the states of the continent. Alami indicated that “60% of Moroccan investments abroad are directed towards Africa.” The Moroccan underlined, in his speech, that “the Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP) is currently supporting the development of agriculture in several African countries”. A message intended to reassure certain African capitals, concerned regarding the survival of their agriculture from the consequences of the war in Ukraine on the supply of fertilizer products.
Algeria’s response to Morocco’s outstretched hand for the development of Africa was no exception to the rule. The Vice-President of the Upper House of the Parliament of Algeria focused on “decolonization” in Africa, and this “by granting the Saharawi people the right to self-determination, in accordance with international resolutions”.
And to add that “Africa cannot aspire to a promising future without irreversibly uprooting the detestable colonial phenomenon, by accelerating the pace of decolonization of the continent, by allowing the Saharawi people the right to self-determination and to freely determine and sovereignly its destiny and put an end to acts of violence and violations of human rights, as well as the looting of wealth practiced by the Moroccan occupier in Western Sahara”.
