French President Emmanuel Macron’s current State visit to Morocco at the invitation of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, culminating in the signing of several cooperation agreements in various fields, grabbed the attention of French media on Tuesday, hailing a renewed France-Morocco partnership up to the challenges ahead.
Macron’s State visit to Morocco is an opportunity for French media to highlight the assets of the Kingdom, a strategic partner of France standing out as a continental and regional leader.
“Morocco is a country that continues to advance. It is gratifying that it is doing so hand in hand with its old friend France, in tourism of course, but also in education, agriculture, industry, defense, as well as in a balanced and realistic diplomacy, in Africa and in the Middle East,” Le Figaro ‘s Renaud Girard writes in a column.
Girard, who welcomes the new partnership “at the highest level with a long-term friend of France,” points out that “through hard work and private initiative,” Morocco “has progressed remarkably over the last twenty years, and shines today on the African continent.”
Devoting an entire article in the same issue to this “pole of attractiveness in Africa,” Le Figaro points out that “Morocco, a politically and economically very stable country, rich in fishing, solar, wind and phosphate resources, is today standing out as a major economic platform at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and the Middle East.”
“Europe’s first African frontier, Morocco also boasts two coastlines, giving it a strategic advantage,” notes the publication, citing Tanger-Med port (ranked 19th worldwide), Africa’s first high-speed train line, and the Ouarzazate solar power plant among assets making the Kingdom a continental leader.
The issue also lists special economic zones (Tangier, Kenitra, Casablanca), which also encourage the establishment of export industries, attracted by this favorable framework and an increasingly qualified workforce, and the soaring number of engineers, thanks to investments in higher education, at a time when the Kingdom is banking on the rise of key sectors and new technologies to attract companies keen to access the African market, backed by an attractive tax system.
Radio France Internationale (RFI) emphasizes the importance of the agreements signed between Morocco and France on the very first day of Macron’s state visit to the Kingdom, citing among the most significant the agreement between Alstom and Egis in the rail sector, and with TotalEnergies in the field of green hydrogen, “another strategic sector.”
Renewable energies and solar power have also been recognized as promising sectors for collaboration between France and Morocco, notes RFI, which refers to the contract won by France’s Safran to set up an aircraft engine maintenance and repair site in Casablanca, while shipping company CGM-CMA is to join forces with Marsa Maroc to develop a container terminal in Nador West Med.
In turn, Le Monde highlights agreements signed in the rail sector, renewable energies “where Morocco aims to excel,” energy transition and cooperation in energy connectivity.
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