French President Emmanuel Macron will make a state visit “at the end of October” to Morocco in order to seal the relaunch of the bilateral relationship after a long period of cold weather, the Elysée announced Friday to AFP.
HM King Mohammed VI sent him a letter of invitation on Thursday on this date in which he welcomed “the promising horizons that are emerging for our two countries,” said the French presidency.
This visit will be “an opportunity to give our exceptional partnership a renewed and ambitious vision covering several strategic sectors and taking into account the priorities of our two countries”, added the sovereign according to the Elysée.
France has opened the way to bilateral warming by making a gesture on the Sahara issue. On July 30, Paris strengthened its support for the Moroccan autonomy plan.
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The gesture was expected by Morocco, which had already taken a major step by obtaining recognition by the American administration of Donald Trump at the end of 2020 of its sovereignty over this territory, in return for a rapprochement with Israel.
Under pressure from Rabat, France, a former colonial power with a large Moroccan diaspora, finally changed its position after Berlin and Madrid. Emmanuel Macron then agreed that “the present and the future (of this territory) are part of the framework of Moroccan sovereignty”.
France’s change in posture unsurprisingly aroused the ire of Algiers, which supports the Sahrawi separatists and immediately recalled its ambassador from Paris, once again plunging the bilateral relationship into turmoil.
The Franco-Moroccan warming opens up new economic and commercial prospects for French companies, which have kept a low profile in recent years in the face of the accumulation of disputes.
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The day after Paris changed its position, the French engineering company Egis was awarded a contract providing for the extension of the high-speed train line between Kenitra and Marrakech.
The Moroccan Sahara, with its enormous solar and wind resources, is also strategic for the economic development of the kingdom, which has resolutely turned towards renewable energies, and hopes to position itself on the green hydrogen market.
French companies are already present there, notably the energy company Engie for the construction of a water desalination station and a wind farm.
Challenge (with AFP)
