Morocco and Nigeria unveil Nigeria-Morocco Business Council
Morocco’s intensified efforts towards African solidarity and south-south cooperation continue to show results, with the creation of the Nigeria-Morocco Business Council being the latest of encouraging developments.
In a press release shared this week with Morocco World News, the Morocco Africa Cultures and Developments Organization (OMA) announced the creation of the Nigeria Morocco Business Council. The signing ceremony will take place on Monday, March 29, at the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services of the Rabat-Sale-Kenitra region.
The ceremony will take place in the presence of members of the Chamber, as well as a large delegation of entrepreneurs from Nigeria.OMA commends Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, whose efforts have “multiplied initiatives aimed at promoting the development and consolidation of relations between Morocco and other African countries according to the win-win concept.”
The partnership is set to strengthen the cooperation between Morocco and Nigeria, which OMA describes as “two most important countries on the continent.” It also aims to promote the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTFTA) and African civil society organizations.
By bringing together business owners from the two “brotherly countries,” the convention will help support the various memoranda of understanding signed by the heads of state of Morocco and Nigeria.
The joint business council’s objectives are to promote the two countries interests “at the sub-regional, regional, continental and international level,” as well as to encourage “investment and cooperation in the various sectors of activity.”
Among the sectors listed in the press release are: agriculture, telecommunications, infrastructure development, energy, finance, development of culture, tourism, education, and science.
A separate series of meetings will be organized on the sidelines of the signing ceremony to further explore exchange prospects and investment opportunities in both countries, the press release noted.
Pan-African solidarity
The news comes as Morocco and Nigeria take bold steps to bring their increasingly improving commercial and diplomatic ties to new heights.
Since launching its African venture plan in 2016, Morocco’s OCP Group has established itself as an invaluable partner in Nigeria’s quest for improved agricultural output and food security.
The Moroccan company has notably helped the Nigerian government with its plans to build a fertilizer plant, and cooperation between Rabat and Abuja has only blossomed as a result.
Earlier this week, on March 26, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari expressed his gratitude to the Moroccan King, following the finalizing of a new fertilizer-related partnership worth $1.3 billion (MAD 11.7 billion).
The Nigerian president underlined that “this mutually beneficial partnership between our two countries is a true example of how intra-Africa trade and partnership should work.”
The Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project is another ambitious achievement that has given renewed impetus to Morocco’s south-south cooperation and its commitment to pan-African solidarity. In a telephone conversation with the Moroccan King on January 31, President Buhari expressed his country’s determination to materialize, “as soon as possible,” the gas pipeline project.
Illustrating its pan-African vision, the pipeline will benefit a population of more than 300 million Africans across Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, and Morocco.
As Morocco World News’ editor in chief Samir Bennis has observed, “Morocco has succeeded in building trust with Nigeria, and the rapprochement has translated into the launch of the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project, which will shake the future balance of power.”
