Sahel States praised His Majesty the King’s international Initiative aiming to facilitate their access to the Atlantic Ocean, seeing it as a “highly important strategy” for co-development and prosperity in the region.
“We welcome His Majesty the King’s initiative, which will help us diversify our sources of access to the Atlantic,” Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop told reporters on behalf of his counterparts from Burkina Faso, Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré, Niger, Bakary Yaou Sangaré and Chad, Abderaman Koulamallah, who were meeting in New York on Friday with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita.
Held on the sidelines of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, this meeting is part of a coordinated effort to operationalize His Majesty King Mohammed VI’s initiative to promote access to the Atlantic Ocean for Sahel countries.
“We would like to congratulate the Kingdom of Morocco on this initiative, and also for the solidarity shown towards 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 in which we work with mutual respect and consideration,” Abdoulaye Diop added.
Welcoming the steps taken to operationalize the Royal Initiative, the Malian minister stated that the concerned countries are coordinating to “bring all stakeholders around this initiative, in particular the various ministries” in charge of trade and infrastructure, among others.
He added that Friday’s meeting provided an opportunity to convene on the necessary next steps, mainly to leverage “the human and financial resources required for the various phases” of implementation.
In a joint communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, the Sahel states welcomed the concrete projects proposed by Morocco as part of the Royal Initiative, which are “in line with the national development plans currently being implemented in each of the countries.”
His Majesty King Mohammed VI launched the Initiative to promote access to the Atlantic Ocean for the Sahel States in a speech delivered by the Sovereign on November 6, 2023, to mark the 48th anniversary of the Green March.
add your comment
Terms of publication : Not to offend the writer, people, sacred things, or attack religions or the divine self, and refrain from racist incitement and insults.