French Magazine Highlights Diplomatic Momentum Surrounding Opening of Many Friendly Countries’ Consulates in Moroccan Sahara

French magazine ‘Jeune Afrique’ highlighted, on Friday, the diplomatic impetus surrounding the opening of consulates from brotherly countries in Morocco’s southern provinces, echoing the inauguration of the Republic of Chad’s consulate general in Dakhla on August 14. “Chad is the latest country to have joined this growing list,” writes the magazine, which notes that “the opening of the Chadian consulate is also in line with the Atlantic Initiative proposed by HM King Mohammed VI at the end of 2023, aiming to provide the four landlocked Sahel countries (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad) with better access to the Atlantic.” “The city of Dakhla alone hosts seventeen consulates, reinforcing its dual status as a diplomatic hub and a gateway to Africa, thanks to its future port (Dakhla Atlantique), which is set to become one of the largest in the region,” says the magazine. The article states that, in addition to Chad, Dakhla also houses consular representations from French-speaking African countries, including Djibouti (February 2020), the Democratic Republic of Congo (December 2020), Senegal (April 2021), Togo (July 2022) and Guinea (July 2023). The English, Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries on the continent “are also well represented, as the city also hosts diplomatic representations from Gambia (January 2020), Liberia (March 2020), Equatorial Guinea (October 2020), Sierra Leone (August 2021), Guinea-Bissau (October 2021) and Cape Verde (August 2022), in addition to missions from two Caribbean states–Haiti (December 2020) and Suriname (May 2022)–as well as the Eastern Caribbean States Organization (with 7 member states) since March 2022,” the article adds. Moreover, the opening of a consulate representing the Dominican Republic is expected. According to the magazine, the two southern regions of the Kingdom also have twelve other consulates based in Laayoune. The city has been selected by French-speaking African countries (Comoros in December 2019, Gabon and Central African Republic in January 2020, Côte d’Ivoire and Burundi in February 2020), English-speaking African countries (Zambia and Eswatini in October 2020, Malawi in July 2021) as well as Portuguese-speaking São Tomé and Príncipe in January 2020. It has also attracted several Arab states (United Arab Emirates in November 2020, Bahrain in December 2020 and Jordan in March 2021).