Add Energy: India’s Africa connect needs boosted New Delhi-Rabat ties 

In my previous article, I had talked about India’s approach to increasing its footprint in Africa. In this regard, one aspect that needs to be looked at closely is our engagement with Francophone Africa. This is an area of relative weakness since most of India’s historical linkages with Africa are largely confined to Anglophone African nations. Thus, Francophone Africa has traditionally got less attention from New Delhi, although this is now changing. And one country that India must continue to boost ties with is the north African nation of Morocco.

This is because Morocco has emerged as an island of stability in North Africa and smoothly surfed over the Arab Spring wave that caused much turmoil in many North African nations in the earlier part of this decade. Thanks to the sagacious leadership of Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, Morocco today is brimming with opportunities due to its strategic position on the crossroads of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. In recognition of this, India, in the last few years has been slowly upgrading ties with Morocco. It all started with India’s invitation to Morocco to participate in the 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi in 2015, despite the North African nation not being part of the African Union at the time. It was even more significant that King Mohammed himself attended the summit. This gave a huge fillip to India-Morocco ties and a process was set in motion to enhance bilateral engagement in multiple sectors. 

Why this is important is because Morocco can be India’s springboard into Francophone Africa. For, Morocco has been championing development cooperation with French-speaking sister African nations of West Africa and the Sahel as part of its larger strategic project. India could use those same channels to enlarge its footprint in Francophone African nations. And to further illustrate Morocco’s economic and trade potential, consider two recent developments. First, last month King Mohammed inaugurated in Kenitra French automobile maker PSA Group’s new plant with an annual production capacity of 100,000 vehicles and whose production capacity will be doubled ahead of 2023, generating upon completion 4,000 jobs. 

The new plant bears testimony to Morocco’s investment climate and exemplifies the trust that the French automaker is willing to place on the capacities of the kingdom. Second, Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan recently represented King Mohammed at the ceremony to launch port operations of the new Tangier Med II port, a platform that will enable the Tangier Med port complex to become the largest port in the Mediterranean region. This new port extension, which includes two new container terminals with an additional capacity of 6 million TEUs, will further strengthen the position of the Tangier Med port complex as a key hub in Africa and the world for logistics flows and international trade. 

In fact, Tangier Med connects Morocco to 77 countries and 186 ports, taking full advantage of Morocco’s location on the maritime map. The port, therefore, serves as a gateway to both Africa and Europe. It is a key pillar of trade and investment facilitation in the region. Given this scenario, India should see Morocco as a strategic partner in Africa. In February during then external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Morocco, the two countries signed four MoUs including the setting up of a Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism, Cooperation in Housing and Human Settlement, Reciprocal facilitation of procedures for issue of Business Visa and Cooperation in Youth Matters.

But this is just scratching the surface. As the BJP government in New Delhi takes fresh guard for its second innings, India should take ties with Morocco to the next level. This is a win-win partnership that should be pursued wholeheartedly.