As part of the work of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) which was held from September 22 to 27, 2024 in New York, the Sahel States welcomed the International Initiative of King Mohammed VI aimed at promoting the access of these countries to the Atlantic Ocean, seeing it as a “highly important strategy” in the service of co-development and prosperity in the region.
“We welcome the Initiative of His Majesty the King which will help us diversify our sources of access to the Atlantic,” Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop told the press on behalf of his counterparts. from Burkina Faso, Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré, from Niger, Bakary Yaou Sangaré and from Chad, Abderaman Koulamallah, meeting Friday in New York with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad, Nasser Bourita .
This meeting is part of the coordination on the operationalization of the royal initiative aimed at promoting access of the Sahel States to the Atlantic Ocean.
“We would like to congratulate the Kingdom of Morocco for this initiative, and also for the solidarity with our countries,” added the head of Malian diplomacy, welcoming the action taken with Morocco “in a spirit of fraternity, solidarity and mutual respect”.
“Our alliance with Morocco is part of a political framework where we work with mutual respect and consideration,” continued Abdoulaye Diop.
Welcoming the steps taken in the operationalization of the Royal Initiative, the Malian minister indicated that the countries concerned are coordinating their action to be able to “bring all stakeholders around this initiative, in particular the different ministries” in charge of trade and infrastructure, among others.
Friday’s meeting, he said, made it possible to agree on the next necessary steps, in particular with a view to mobilizing “the human and financial resources necessary for the different phases” of realization.
In a joint press release published at the end of this meeting, the Sahel States welcomed the concrete projects proposed by Morocco as part of the royal initiative, which are “in line with national development plans, currently, currently being implemented in each country”.
As a reminder, King Mohammed VI launched this initiative to promote access of the Sahel States to the Atlantic Ocean during his speech delivered on November 6, 2023, on the occasion of the 48th anniversary of the Green March.
