The Moroccan capital, Rabat, is hosting a two-day meeting of African and foreign experts on security issues on the continent.
By Abdou Cisse, Spécial correspondent
Africa can take charge and face the challenges of all kinds that beset it.
This is the conviction of Ambassador Fouad Yazourh, Director of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Living Abroad.
“The security challenges are worrying, but the African potential is more important,” said the Moroccan diplomat who took part in the opening ceremony on Wednesday, July 20, in Rabat, of the 6th Annual Conference on Peace and Security Africa organized by the Policy Center for the New South, a Moroccan think tank considered one of the most influential in Africa.
According to the senior Moroccan diplomat, to face these challenges, “Africa must take advantage of its potential, structure its policy away from dogmatism to build its future.”
“It is a continent that has an agricultural potential, which can feed itself and which can feed much of the world,” Yazourh said, stressing that the youth accounting for 65 percent of the population of the continent, is under the age of 25 years.
“Only, it is necessary that the policies follow this dynamic. We must abandon dogmatism. We must abandon populism and speeches that no longer hold water and go instead towards construction,” he urged.
Admitting that Africa is the object of covetousness, Fouad Yazourh said however that “Morocco does not seek leadership to set itself up as a power; it acts with sister countries in a structured way, in a way of solidarity and in a continuous interaction,” the diplomat said.
For the Director General of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Morocco is listening to Africa.”
“We do not understand our stability and development outside our continent of belonging. That is why we share our experiences with all of Africa and we want to learn from Africa any successful experience and integrate it into our policy,” he concluded.
AC/Los/fss/as/APA