APA-Rabat (Morocco) The visit in Morocco by the head of Niger’s government comes in the wake of the launch last December of a Moroccan security arrangement known as the Atlantic Alliance.
Niger’s Prime Minister, Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine, began a working visit to Morocco on Monday 12 February, accompanied by a delegation including the Minister of Defence, General Salifou Mody, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bakary Yaou Sangaré.
During his visit, Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine, who met his Moroccan counterpart Aziz Akhannouch on Monday, is due to be received by King Mohammed VI to discuss the development of relations between the two countries.
The Moroccan visit by the head of Niger’s government comes on the heels of a high-level meeting held in Marrakech last December, devoted to the launch of a Moroccan initiative called the Atlantic Alliance, which brought together four of Morocco’s diplomatic chiefs from Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Chad.
Initiated by Morocco, the Atlantic Alliance aims to give landlocked Sahelian states easier access to the Atlantic Ocean by opening up new trade and economic routes and enabling these countries to use Moroccan port infrastructure.
The Atlantic Alliance also aims to address security and stability concerns in the Sahel region, particularly in the face of the threat of terrorism and the challenges posed by migration.
For Niger, the visit to Morocco of the head of government in Niamey is of crucial importance in the context of economic sanctions, followed recently by the withdrawal of the country and its allies Mali and Burkina Faso from the Economic Community of West African States since July 2023, following the overthrow of the regime of Mohamed Bazoum by a junta led by General Abdourahamane Thani.
AC/Los/fss/as/APA