Moroccan African charm offensive

Last week, Moroccan king Mohammed VI has paid a visit to several West African countries countries, including Guinea, Ivory Coast and Gabon and stopped over in Mali for four days. In this war torn country, he signed 17 cooperation agreements. And, perhaps more important for Morocco, obtained full support for Moroccan policies and positions in the Western Sahara.

It is therefore true that the visit not only focused on Economic issues. Security and terrorism was also high on the agenda. This represents, parallel to proving Morocco's value to Europe and the US as an ally in the war against terrorism and Islamic Radicalism, a new front in the constant friction and competition with its neighbour, Algeria.

The Economist blog said today : " Algeria has long been the dominant north African power in West Africa, but Morocco is now vying for clout. Over the past year, it has engaged with Africa more than anytime since 1984 when it quit the Organisation of African Unity". It did so because this organization recognised the Polisario Front, fighting for the independence of the Western Sahara.

So from a security and political perspective, the visit could not have gone better for Moroccan interests, which has had a moderate Islamic Government in power for the past few years, even though foreign policy remains under the direct responsability of the King ( domain reservé)

Economically, in the case of Mali, Morocco is highly present in the capital of the four major banks and also in the telecommunications sector. The visit should further foster these already close relations in the near future.

Moroccan exports to West African countries have grown eightfold over the last decade, as rapid development in the region drives demand for primary exports, according to a report by the Arabia Monitor.

As West Africa booms, minerals and fertilisers have been the region’s largest imports. Primary products account for a sizeable chunk of Morocco’s exports.

Moroccan banks are also looking to benefit from the region’s underdeveloped financial infrastructure, according to the report. Bank accounts per capita are among the lowest in the world, while only 3 per cent of adults in Sub-Saharan Africa have credit cards, according to data from the World Bank.

Morocco has several of Africa’s largest banks, which means it has ample opportunity to offer retail banking services to the continent’s customers, the report argues.

So Moroccan investments in the area target sectors with high added value like telecommunications, banks and transport. Royal AIr Maroc, the national  airline, is present in all West African nations from its hub in Casablanca. Connections are not only considerably cheaper than travelling through/from Europe, but often schedules are far more convenient for business travellers.

The African continent is steadily growing and opportunities are increasingly there for foreign capital and businesses. As we know, for five straight years, consumer spending in Europe and the United States has dwindled in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Companies have responded by looking for new markets for their products. Luckily for them, consumer spending in Africa has risen over the same period and the trend is expected to continue.

A recent report by the consultancy McKinsey found that even before the financial crisis, less than a third of Africa’s GDP growth was attributable to resources while 45 per cent came from consumer-facing sectors. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) recently concluded a 10,000-person consumer study in Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Nigeria, South Africa, Angola, Kenya and Ghana that highlighted rising incomes as a cause of higher spending. In 2001, 104 million people had an annual income in excess of US$2,700. By 2011, this reached 184 million and may rise to 257 million by 2020, BCG said.

Spain and, in particular the Canary Islands, the nearest portion of Europe to West Africa, is once again lagging behind in taking active part in the blooming economies of the area. I think it is imperative for Spain to open frank and in-depth discussions with Morocco, and jointly study all the implications of events in the area, both from the security and terrorism aspects, and from the economic and business point of view.

Cooperation between Spain and Morocco is working well bilaterally in many ways. Perhaps the moment has arrived to partner up and reap mutual benefit from neighbouring West Africa. Spain has to accept that contributing actively to Moroccan security and economic presence and stability in the southern borders we share in effect, is also vital to its security, A small presence in a Moroccan bank is far from enough in this scenario.

I'm back!

I haven't been active in this blog of mine for the past two years in whcih I have been the Director General of Casa Africa in the Canary Islands. I thought that this job would not allow me to publish my thoughts on certain issues with enough independence.

A few days ago I quit this job, and I am back waiting for anew posting. In the meantime I will continue to follow events in Africa and the rest of the world, which it is my intention to share in these pages.

Please feel free to comment on any of my opinions.

Mali and Security issues in the Sahel Region of Africa

10 days ago, a Military Junta led by an American trained Captain in the Army ousted the president of Mali, Amadou Toumani Toure, popularly known as AT&T. The justification for the coup d'état was the incapacity of the regime to face the Tuareg rebellion in the north and corruption.

Tuaregs account for 15% of the total Mali population of 15 million. Their rebellion is making military progress day by day, and last Friday they conquered their first city: Kidal. Today, Monday April 2nd they are claiming their occupation of Timbuctu.

Mali's neighbors have a main priority: restore, at least partially, the constitutional democracy in place before the Coup d´Etat. By Monday April 2nd, the Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS), will impose financial and diplomatic sanctions and even proceed to the closure of the terrestrial borders.

This strategy is the same followed by the region in 2010 and 2011 to secure the ousting of Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo who had no intention of respecting the results of the Presidential elections.

AT&T of Mali was in no way a model president. In his years in power contraband and drug trafficking grew exponentially, fueling corruption. The northern part of the country became a sanctuary where Al Qaeda terrorists would hold their Western hostages. This has sunk tourism in the African country with the biggest archaeological heritage in Africa after Egypt. The Libyan crisis has assured a steady supply of arms to both Tuaregs and terrorists

Spain, has two social workers kidnapped in Tinduf ( Algeria) over five months ago.

Terrorism and Al Qaeda is no joke in the region. The region is very poor and development issues are extremely important. Robert Fowler, the Canadian diplomat who was UN representative for Niger and the Tuareg negotiations, was himself kidnapped for 130 days and is quoted as saying that his captors were the most focused group of young men that he has ever encountered in his life. They were relatively well educated and the officers were all Algerian. Their objective is the recreation of the grand caliphate; they hate with passion the concepts of liberty and freedom and democracy, and they look forward to expelling all Westerners, Western influence, from their land. They want to turn the Sahel into one vast, seething, chaotic Somalia.

He concludes that the Terrorists are proud of their spreading links to Boko Haram in Nigeria, they are very proud of their strikes deep into Mauritania, proud of their colleagues in al-Shabab reaching into Kenia and Uganda. Furthermore, now that they are well equipped with both sophisticated, and enormous quantities of Libyan weapons, their threat is much more present. Also a factor is the illegal drug traffic, coming from South America and going to Europe and Asia.

You also have the question of the exploitation of natural resources, which is less of a problem in Mauritania because it is in the middle of the desert, but in Mali, and Niger, the resources lie precisely where the Tuareg communities live.

A recent panel discussion at Chatham House identified three problems: one is the influx of black African refugees from Libya. Many places in northern Niger and Northern Mali are full of refugees;

Second is AQIM (Al Qaeda), which has benefited from the fall of the Kaddafi regime in Libya and the steady flow of weapons. AQIM delivers welfare, much in the same way of Hezbollah in Lebanon, or the radical Islamists in Algeria, or the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt. It brings in social welfare in regions where the state doesn't bring in anything;

The final idea refers to the need to act in support of local initiatives; the problem is that ECOWAS is not functional, and Algeria and Mauritania are not members. You also have regional tensions: Libya, Algeria and Morocco have sometimes used the region as a backyard for their own disputes.

Both for African countries and for Western anti-European countries the main problem is the possible destabilization of the Sahara region.

Two initiatives are interesting: The Joint Headquarters in Tamanrasset, established in 2009 by Algeria, Mali, Niger and Mauritania, which, granted, has not been very efficient. And the second is the EU Strategy for Development and Security in the Sahel.

Mali’s neighbors are justifiably worried that prolonged chaos in the country could lead to the consolidation of the political rebellion and threaten the territorial integrity of the country and, also, of other neighboring States with important Tuareg communities, notably Niger.

To reestablish the constitutional order in Mali will imply handing back power to civilians and since AT&T's mandate was due to end in a few weeks, to proceed to organize free elections, and a new Constitutional government that may be in a position to negotiate some solution to the regional problem with the Tuareg community.