US Secretary of State Pompeo choses Morocco for his maiden visit to Africa

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected this week in Rabat on a two-day working visit to the North African country, one of the major US allies in the region.

The trip will be not only Pompeo’s first travel to Morocco and to an African country, but also the first visit by an American Secretary of State to the Kingdom since February 2012.

According to the State Department, Secretary Pompeo will be received by King Mohammed VI and will meet in Rabat with a range of government officials to review the two countries’ strong economic and security partnership.

He will also discuss areas for future US-Moroccan cooperation within the framework of the USA-Morocco Strategic Dialogue.

Mike Pompeo, who had himself announced his trip to Morocco early December, had described Morocco as “one of the strongest partners” of the United States in the region.

“I’m looking forward to reviewing our countries’ strong economic, security partnership and discussing future areas of cooperation,” he had said.

At a press briefing held in Washington ahead of Pompeo’s trip, a senior State Department official described Morocco “a critical partner” of Washington in a wide range of issues, “a leader on the African continent, an important voice for peace in the broader Middle East, and a source of stability in the Mediterranean”.

He also hailed continued partnership with Morocco in multilateral effort to defeat ISIS, praising the country’s unrelenting efforts to promote sustainable economic development by prioritizing the inclusion of women in the workforce.

The State Department official renewed on this occasion his country’s support to Morocco’s Sahara autonomy initiative, which he described again as a “serious, credible and realistic” solution to this regional conflict.

Special Advisor Ivanka Trump who visited Morocco early November to promote the White House-sponsored Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) initiative, had outlined that her visit was a chance to reiterate the US appreciation to the leadership of King Mohammed VI on critical issues such as peace and security in the Middle East, as well as to ensure peace, stability and development for Africa.

Ivanka Trump also commended the reform process undertaken by the Monarch during the past twenty years, especially on the issue of advancing women’s rights and promoting their economic empowerment.

Likewise, at the end of the 4th session of the US-Morocco strategic dialogue held in October in Washington, Mike Pompeo praised the bold reforms launched by King Mohammed VI, the continuous and valuable support of the Monarch on issues of common interest such as peace in the Middle East, Africa’s stability and development, as well as regional security.