Morocco, Benin Welcome Progress Made in Various Cooperation Areas – Joint Statement –

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, and his Beninese counterpart, Olushegun Adjadi Bakari, welcomed on Tuesday in Rabat the important progress made in the various cooperation areas between the two countries, since the visit of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, May God Assist Him, to Cotonou in 2004. In a joint statement issued at the end of their talks, the two ministers reaffirmed their willingness to work further to strengthen, consolidate and diversify areas of cooperation between the two countries in promising sectors, which constitute the strategic axes of the second Government Action Program (PAG2), for the period (2021-2026), in accordance with the High Orientations of His Excellency President Patrice Talon. According to the same source, Morocco is also ready to strengthen cooperation with Benin in areas of common interest, such as the cultural event “Benin’s Arts of yesterday and today: from restitution to revelation”, which took place at the Mohammed VI Museum in Rabat. To this end, Bourita expressed the Kingdom of Morocco’s warmest thanks to His Excellency Patrice Talon, President of the Republic of Benin, for his initiative to honor the Kingdom of Morocco by hosting the contemporary section of this exhibition in Rabat. The two parties, who share a common vision for the development of trade and the promotion of investment, aspire to establish a robust economic partnership, inviting both countries’ private sectors to play a leading role in boosting and reinforcing their economic exchanges and contributing to the financing of development. In this context, the Beninese side reiterated the need to facilitate the granting of visas to Beninese nationals, as discussed at the 6th Grand Joint Commission held in Morocco on March 25, 2019. During these talks, which fall within the framework of strengthening relations of fraternity and solidarity between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Benin, Bourita and Bakari also hailed the deep ties of fraternal and traditional friendship between the Moroccan and Beninese peoples and the mutual respect that exists between His Majesty King Mohammed VI, May God Assist Him, and His Excellency President Patrice Talon. The two parties also praised the shared desire to make Moroccan-Beninese partnership relations an exceptional model of inter-African cooperation, based on the values of solidarity, exchange and sharing. The two ministers agreed to hold the 7th Session of the Grand Joint Commission for Cooperation between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Benin in November 2023, in Cotonou. During the talks, Bakari has first of all extended to His Majesty King Mohammed VI and to the brotherly people of Morocco the most sincere condolences of the President of the Republic, HE Patrice Talon, and the people of Benin following the Al Haouz earthquake.