ABSTRACT

Since Mohammed VI became king in 1999, the Moroccan state has made significant efforts to become more involved on the African continent. The kingdom has been carrying out a more active co-operation policy with its sub-Saharan neighbours, reviving and strengthening the bilateral cooperation programmes developed since Moroccan independence in 1956. Following complications in the Western Sahara decolonisation process and the OAU (now the African Union) having recognised the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Morocco withdrew from the African organisation in 1984 (Barre 2004). The new African policy aims to counteract Morocco’s isolation from the African Union, to gain more support for its sovereignty claims over the Western Sahara province and to defend Moroccan commercial and economic interests in Africa (Wippel 2004). The country is more particularly involved in several sub-regional organisations such as the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) since 2001 or ECOWAS since 2005, to compensate for its isolation from the pan-African organisation.