Gov’t Chief Underlines in Washington Morocco’s Key Role in U.S.-Africa Relations

The Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch, stressed in Washington, Morocco’s key role in the relations between Africa and the United States, highlighting the existing investment prospects between the two parties. “Morocco can play a central role in relations between Africa and the United States, with regard to investment programs, the private sector and the financial sector,” Akhannouch told the press on the sidelines of his participation in the U.S.- Africa Leaders Summit, held in the U.S. federal capital on December 13- 15, adding that the government will implement all the means at its disposal in this regard, under the leadership of HM King Mohammed VI. He also noted that Morocco has important programs that have been implemented in partnership with the Millennium Challenge Account, noting that these programs, which have been very successful, can serve as models in the world. Akhannouch said that the Washington Summit is an opportunity to recall that the success of these relations requires willingness at the highest level of the country, noting that His Majesty the King took the decision, at the outset, to conclude a free trade agreement with the United States. Thanks to this agreement, Morocco has been able to triple the volume of its trade with the United States, the Moroccan official noted. Akhannouch recalled that Morocco’s commitment, at the highest level of the country, has also been concretized by more than 50 state visits to some thirty African countries, which have been crowned by the signing of more than 1,000 agreements, which has made Morocco, he added, the first investor in West Africa. The Head of Government referred to the main meetings to be held in Morocco in connection with the economic field, including the first Bloomberg New Economy Gateway Africa in June 2023 as well as the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Marrakech next October. He noted, in this regard, that these meetings will help to raise the interest of major investors about the transformation that Morocco is experiencing and the efforts undertaken by His Majesty the King, adding that participation in the Washington Summit is an opportunity “to assure the United States that Morocco is there to support the pace of these investments.”