Morocco Has Always Backed AU Initiatives Aimed Promoting Industrialization, Economic Integration of Africa – Ambassador –

Morocco has always backed all the initiatives of the African Union (AU) aimed at promoting the industrialization and economic integration of Africa, said Tuesday in Addis Ababa Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the AU and UNECA, Ambassador, Mohamed Arrouchi. “The Kingdom of Morocco has always supported with determination all the initiatives of the African Union aimed at promoting the industrialization and continental economic integration, by actively contributing to the development of relevant African strategies,” underlined the Moroccan diplomat at the 43rd session of the AU Permanent Representatives’ Committee (PRC), preparatory to the next sessions of the Executive Council and the AU Summit. It is in this spirit that Morocco has demonstrated a sustained commitment throughout the negotiations of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), noted Arrouchi during this session held through videoconference. The Moroccan diplomat, who was commenting on the report of the African Continental Free Trade Area, noted that the AfCFTA “will promote intra-African trade on our continent and better integration into regional value chains in important sectors”. “For Morocco and the rest of the Continent, the AfCFTA is a unique opportunity for our economies, which will allow our economic operators to explore this vast Continent and gradually access it without customs duties,” he said. The Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Kingdom to the AU and the UNECA has, in this regard, welcomed the various concrete actions undertaken by the AfCFTA Secretariat, in particular the launch of the pan-African payment system, which will allow to accelerate intra-African trade and enhance local currencies, the AfCFTA Automobile Fund to support industrialization in Africa and the AfCFTA Adjustment Fund to mitigate possible economic impacts following the reduction of tariff revenue and enable businesses and supply chains to reorganize themselves to conform to the Continental Zone. The PRC session kicked off last Thursday under the theme “Building resilience in nutrition on the African continent: Accelerate the Human Capital, Social and Economic Development.” The Session will consider different reports including, the  Report of the 4th Ordinary Session of the STC on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water, and Environment (ARDWE), the Report of the 4th Ordinary Session of the STC on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning, and Integration, the Progress Report on Ratification of the Treaty to establish the African Medicine Agency and the Combined 50th and 51st Activity Report of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights. The Session will also consider draft agenda and draft decisions of the 40th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council and agenda of the 35th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly.