Ahmed Charai
Moroccan King Mohammed VI visited three African countries south of
the Sahara last week -- Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Gabon -- and convened a
series of meetings the outcomes of which are poised to affect the
region's development and security, as well as America's relations with
much of Africa.
The North African monarch is no stranger to his southern
neighbors. Since February 2005, the King has visited more than ten
countries below the Sahara, including such strategically vital nations
as Gambia; both Congo Barazziville and the Democratic Republic of Congo;
Burkina Faso; Guinea, and Niger. The visits have been part of a
strategy to enhance Morocco's role as a supporter of political,
economic, and cultural development on the continent, as well as its role
inenhancing regional security.
On the development front, the kingdom has developed a series of
high-profile projects that have garnered attention in the continent's
public discussion. For example, the kingdom's National Office of
Electricity is now supplying electricity throughout the rural areas
along the Senegal River, affecting 550 villages and 360,000
people. Along the way, the initiative is expanding expertise honed
inside the kingdom's borders, and which stems from an indigenous rural
electrification program that has brought electricity to 98% of villages
across Morocco.
Other Moroccan-led ventures are affecting the state of medical care
on the continent: Witness the Moroccan pharmaceutical industry's base in
the Senegalese capital Dakar, which now manufactures and exports
generic drugs, to treat malaria, diarrheal diseases, and cholera, in
Africa's poorest countries. These non-profit ventures, together with
commercial initiatives, are fostered by the Moroccan banking industry's
presence in 20 African countries, as well as in the large Moroccan
diaspora communities which serve as on-the-ground facilitators across
the continent.
Meanwhile, on the security front, the kingdom is playing a greater
role in supporting the struggle against jihadist groups and mitigating
the culture of religious extremism that breeds them. In December 2012,
Morocco, which was holding the rotating chairmanship of the United
Nations Security Council, played a prominent role in the adoption of a
resolution authorizing the deployment of an African military force to
intervene in Mali, after an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group had conquered a
portion of the country the size of France.
Further, the monarchy is reinstating its membership in the African
Union [AU] after years of absence due to tensions with an AU member
state, Algeria. Moroccan entry to the Union means that its security
capacity will be boosted by a well-trained and highly equipped army,
schooled in fighting terrorism and transnational crime, as well as
enabling it to take advantage of Morocco's strong alliances in Europe
and the United States.
Nor are Moroccan prescriptions for regional security limited to military operations: This video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1DKTu0U3jE) of
the King's meeting last week with Sufi Muslim leaders in Senegal is
indicative of his strategy of strengthening moderate Islamic leaders as
an alternative to those who distort Islamic principles to serve their
strident ambitions.
These developments, in turn, present special opportunities for the
United States to partner with Morocco in achieving its own aspirations
on the continent. In a speech on January 16, US Assistant Secretary of
State Johnnie Carson offered an appraisal of the economic appeal of
Africa: "Seven of the ten fastest growing economies in the world are
located in Africa today," he noted, "yet not enough American business
executives know that if you want to make a good investment today, you
should look to the African continent to do so." The speech called for
bridging the networking divide between American and African
entrepreneurs, but was short on details for how to bring it about.
Two months later, during her last visit to Morocco as Secretary of
State, Hillary Clinton noted that the country's new constitution had
opened up the political process, and advanced the status of women and
minorities. She announced a Moroccan business development conference to
be held in Washington, and also envisioned "economic integration across
North Africa," with Morocco playing a prominent role. But she made no
mention of nations below the Sahara.
Both speeches are forward-looking and important. But they also
suggest that Americans still perceive the continent through the lens of
the 20th century, when the Saharan desert still represented a sort of
wall between north and south that was rarely breached. In the 21st
century, this wall has come down: Thanks to new roads and modern
transportation, commerce and expertise across the Sahara have increased
exponentially.
With this in mind, the Obama Administration would do well to bring
together Secretary Carson's observations about African economies with
Clinton's vision of Morocco as a fulcrum for the United States on the
continent. The kingdom serves as a connector, as well as an integrator,
to the mutual benefit of both Americans and Africans.
Ahmed Charai is publisher of the weekly Moroccan newspaper
L'Observateur and president of MED Radio, a national broadcast network
in Morocco, MEDTV network and chairman of the board of Al-Ahdath
al-Maghrebiya Arabic daily newspaper. As an expert on Morocco and North
Africa, he sits on the Board of Trustees of the Foreign Policy Research
Institute and the Center for Strategic and International Studies in
Washington and also as Board of Directors of Search for Common Ground in
Washington. He is a member of The National Interest's Advisory Council.
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