Royal Speech: HM the King Remained Faithfull to His ‘Ambitious and Forward-Looking” Vision for Africa – Senior Senegalese Official –
HM King Mohammed VI has remained faithful to His “ambitious and forward-looking” vision for Africa, a continent built on solidarity and complementarity, said Abdoul Fall, a former Senegalese Minister of State and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Senegal’s investment and major works agency Apix SA. “It is now widely recognized that His Majesty the King is determined to maintain and constantly consolidate the special ties between the Kingdom and sub-Saharan countries,” Fall told MAP news agency, reacting to the Sovereign’s speech on Monday evening on the occasion of the 48th anniversary of the Green March. The former Senegalese Minister of State noted that this opens up a new perspective of mutually advantageous cooperation between African countries, and calls for “a collective and ambitious commitment” on the part of Africa’s political and intellectual elites. Underlining that “Morocco has always considered the Sahara as a link rather than a border,” the Chairman of the Board of ASpix pointed out that “the Sovereign’s willingness to extend the scope of this cooperation to the other area we share, namely our Atlantic coast, is in line with this ambitious vision for the future of our countries.” Referring to the Morocco-Nigeria gas pipeline, considered by the Sovereign to be a lever for regional integration, Fall said that it was “one of the continent’s major structuring projects in a sector that is strategic for the development of our countries.” “The issues of access to energy and energy sovereignty, in particular through low-carbon energies, are among today’s major development issues,” he said. The former Senegalese Minister of State also said that by making the Kingdom’s road, port and rail capacities and services available to African countries, “His Majesty the King is opening up a new prospect for intra-African investment.”