Under HM the King’s Leadership, Morocco Continues March of Development – Akhannouch to La Repubblica

Morocco is continuing its march of development, under the leadership of HM King Mohammed VI, stressed Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch, highlighting the Kingdom’s advances in infrastructure, industry, agriculture and tourism. “We have built infrastructure to the best international standards, with unprecedented air-land-sea connectivity in the region,” he said, in an interview with the daily La Repubblica, published on Wednesday, the day after his participation in the Italy-Africa summit. In this respect, Morocco has developed a 2,000-km highway network, the first high-speed rail line in Africa, the continent’s largest port on the Mediterranean and soon the largest maritime infrastructure on the Atlantic, as well as 14 international airports, offering a “very significant African projection capacity,” he detailed. According to Akhannouch, these infrastructures have enabled Morocco to develop efficient industries, notably the automotive and aeronautics sectors, “which are now setting the standard,” as well as a “resilient and sovereign” agricultural sector, and a “particularly attractive” tourism sector. Under the leadership of HM King Mohammed VI, the Kingdom has also been able to become “Africa’s leading producer of renewable energies and consolidate its position as a pioneer in green transition”, continued the Head of Government, highlighting the renewable energy development strategy launched in 2009. Akhannouch further pointed up Morocco’s actions to develop the green hydrogen sector and the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline initiative, which will contribute to energy security in West Africa and the European Union, underlining Italy’s interest in the Kingdom’s initiatives in this field. “Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, has chosen Morocco as one of the first countries in which she will launch new investments in this sector,” said Akhannouch. This includes “a major center of excellence for vocational training in renewable energies.” Turning to the Plan Mattei, presented as part of the summit, Akhannouch explained that this initiative aims to integrate Africa into global value chains, noting that “it is necessary to involve the Italian, European and African private sectors to meet this challenge. […] The plan also requires that the resources mobilized actually match the expected ambitions”, he added. The Head of Government also stressed that “investments between Europe and Africa could make a positive contribution to the management of migratory flows, if they are initiated in a spirit of partnership and co-development,” citing, by way of example, investments by the Stellantis automotive group, which has announced its intention to double the production capacity of the Kenitra plant by 2022. The Head of Government represented HM King Mohammed VI at the summit, held on January 28 and 29 in the Italian capital. The Italy-Africa Summit is part of a series of bilateral meetings undertaken by the Italian government since it took office, culminating in the Conference on Development and Migration, held in Rome in July, which launched the “Rome Process”.