Morocco’s King, Ivorian President Inaugurate “Mohammed VI” Fish Unloading Site
King Mohammed VI, who is on a friendly and working visit to Côte d’Ivoire, held tête-à-tête talks with President Alassane Ouattara in Abidjan on Monday (Nov. 27).
The two heads of state later on proceeded to the official inauguration of a fishing unloading site named after the Moroccan King.
The materialization of the fishing project in Locodjro, in the Attécoubé commune to the North of Abidjan), translates the Monarch’s unwavering commitment to the development of the continent, in the framework of South-South cooperation and acting solidarity. It gives substance to the African strategy the Moroccan King has been spearheading for years in a bid to promote a human, sustainable and integrated development.
The project, which is the result of efforts to promote cooperation and friendship between Morocco and Côte d’Ivoire and to make of their partnership a model in Africa, also reflects the King’s willingness to improve the living conditions of African citizens and fight poverty and precariousness.
The fishing project, that required an investment worth $300,000, is actually designed to be a socio-economic development hub. It will contribute to promoting small-scale fisheries sector, by organizing and supervising the trade, improving the quality of the product, and promoting the living and working conditions of traditional fishing communities, fishmongers, fish dryers and fish smokers.
The project is endowed with state of the art equipment, including fish halls, ice factories, cold-storage rooms, smoking ovens and fish dryers, a boat repair shop, as well as medical dispensaries and daycare centers to help mothers working in the fishing sector.
The Mohammed VI fishing unloading site in Locodjro will help create new jobs and develop micro-poles to combat poverty, optimize the economic performance of small-scale fisheries, increase beneficiaries’ incomes and improve working and sanitary conditions, the objective being sustainable and integrated human development.
A training course on capacity building was organized for the benefit of the managers and operators of this site at the Agadir-based “Institut Supérieur des Pêches Maritimes”.
This project, which is a striking symbol of successful South-South cooperation, is the result of a partnership between the Mohammed VI Foundation for Sustainable Development, the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture and Maritime Fisheries, and the Ivorian government.
Morocco which has opted for diversifying and expanding the areas of its cooperation with African states and which adopted innovative instruments to share its expertise in wealth and job-generating sectors, is promoting another fishing landing point at Grand Lahou, 150 kilometers west of Abidjan. The works there are almost completed.
Two similar projects are underway in Temenitaye, and Bonfi in Conakry, Guinea, and another one, Soumbedioune, is under construction in Dakar, Senegal.
The same day, King Mohammed VI also inaugurated, the “Mohammed VI Vocational Training Multi-Sectoral Centre” of Yopougon and launched the construction works of a boarding school that will accomodate trainees from all over the country.
This center, worth about $700,000, will give a new momentum to youth employment and socio-professional integration in Côte d’Ivoire as it will receive up to 1,000 trainees yearly.
The project, whose building works were launched by the Monarch in June 2015, seeks to provide skilled staff to the sectors of building and civil engineering, tourism, as well as the hotel and catering industry.
The Mohammed VI Vocational Training Multi-Sectoral Centre” of Yopougon houses a hotel, tourism and catering department including a chocolate-making factory, the first of its kind in the world’s largest cacao producer.
