The 37th African Union Summit : Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita Delivers a Speech

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Mr. Nasser Bourita, delivered, on February, 17, 2024 in Addis Ababa, a speech during the 37th African Union Summit.

On this occasion, Mr. Nasser Bourita pointed out that Morocco’s commitment to achieving development goals in Africa is part of the Strategic Vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.

Mr. Nasser Bourita recalled in this regard that His Majesty the King stressed in His speech to the African Union, on January 31, 2017, the importance of fostering the emergence of a new Africa, which can transform its challenges into genuine potential for development and stability.

Based on this conviction, Morocco has consistently sought to make its contribution to the process of implementing the programs and activities of Agenda 2063, as well as to the debates on the evaluation of the first ten-year plan and the strategic orientation of the development and implementation of the 2nd ten-year plan of this agenda, reaffirmed the Minister during the examination of item II.b on the evaluation report of the first ten-year implementation plan and adoption of the second ten-year plan by H.E. Alassane Ouattara, president of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, leader of the follow-up to the implementation of the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

In this context, Mr. Nasser Bourita stressed that for the Kingdom, it is fundamental to develop a resource mobilization strategy, adding that Morocco reiterates its proposal to create a Development Fund similar to the Peace Fund, in order to provide the necessary financial support for the implementation of the 2nd ten-year plan.

The Marrakech Declaration issued from the high-level African ministerial meeting on accelerating the financing of Africa’s emergence, organized on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, held on October 1, 2023 in Marrakech, decided to set up a working group to enable African countries to exchange best practices in development financing, said the Minister.

The realization of the vision of Africa we want can only be achieved through a strong involvement of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in the development process, working within the framework of operational synergies with the AU in general and AUDA-NEPAD in particular, insisted Mr. Nasser Bourita.

In addition to the RECs, the Kingdom is also advocating the strengthening of continental structures dedicated to African youth, who today represent 41% of the African population, the Minister underlined.

Mr. Nasser Bourita also stressed the need to establish regular monitoring mechanisms, in particular by setting up a dashboard enabling us to identify delays and obstacles in good time.

The Kingdom of Morocco supports H.E. president Alassane Ouattara’s proposals, particularly the one calling for an Extraordinary Summit to be held in Abidjan “to deepen the commitment of African leaders, and increase ownership, awareness and visibility of the 2nd ten-year plan of Agenda 2063”, said the Minister.

At this meeting, the Kingdom of Morocco paid a vibrant tribute to H.E. Alassane Ouattara, president of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, Champion of the African Union for the implementation of Agenda 2063, for his tireless efforts, involvement and leadership in achieving the aspirations and strategic objectives of our Agenda 2063.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Kingdom of Morocco – Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates.