Morocco has reiterated, on Friday in Addis Ababa, its commitment to South-South cooperation as a lever of empowerment for Africa.
Speaking at the inaugural ministerial meeting of the 57th session of the Economic Commission for Africa (COM57), Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA-UN), Mohamed Arrouchi, reiterated Morocco’s continuous commitment to South-South cooperation, as a strategic lever for the empowerment of Africa, in line with the vision of King Mohammed VI.
The diplomat mentioned the conspicuous decline of international cooperation, adding that this trend, exacerbated by the regression of multilateralism, now calls on African countries to rethink their models of cooperation, take their collective destiny in hand and work to promote inter-African cooperation.
Morocco has always called for active, united and pragmatic South-South cooperation, based on concrete actions, mainly in Africa, he recalled, pointing out that this strategic guideline rests on the deep conviction that Africa has all the necessary ingredients – a wealth of natural resources, a young population and a considerable economic potential – for genuine empowerment.
Arrouchi also underlined that it is high time that Africa bolstered its regional value chains, promoted its internal complementarities and broke with the logic of withdrawal and “every man for himself,” to achieve the legitimate ambition of a continent that is united, sovereign, and master of its own development.
The inaugural ministerial meeting of the COM57 Bureau examined preparations for the next session of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, set to take place in Morocco in 2026.