Sahara: Malawi reiterates “unwavering” support for Morocco’s territorial integrity

Malawi’s Foreign Minister Ms. Nancy Tembo reiterated, Wednesday from Marrakech, her country’s “unwavering” support for Morocco’s territorial integrity and for the Autonomy Plan proposed to settle the Sahara issue.

This came in a joint communique issued following a meeting between the Malawian Foreign Minister and her Moroccan peer Nasser Bourita on the sidelines of their participation in the US-Africa Business Summit, held in Marrakech on July 19-22.
Regarding the Sahara issue, Nancy Tembo reiterated Malawi’s unwavering support for the territorial integrity of Morocco”, said a joint communique issued on the occasion of the meeting between the ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Malawi,

Ms. Tembo reiterated Malawi’s unwavering support for the territorial integrity of Morocco and commended the efforts of the United Nations (UN) as the “exclusive framework” for achieving a political, realistic, practical and lasting solution to the regional dispute over the Sahara.

She also reaffirmed her country’s support for the Autonomy Plan presented by Morocco in 2007, as “the one and only solution to solve this regional dispute”.

During their meeting, the two sides welcomed the steady deepening, broadening and development of their friendship and cooperation and vowed to work together to lift Morocco-Malawi relations to a new high.

In this context, they welcomed the announcement of the opening of Morocco’s embassy in Lilongwe and Malawi’s embassy in Rabat.

The two sides reviewed bilateral relations in different sectors and agreed that there was scope for deeper and wider collaboration in many fields, such as security, agriculture, renewable energy, health, education, vocational training, mining, energy and decentralized cooperation, the joint statement said.

They also pledged to develop a mutually beneficial economic partnership, and to increase two-way trade to a satisfactory level. They likewise agreed to create a more enabling environment for mutual investments and to encourage the Moroccan and Malawian business communities to fully explore and take advantage of the opportunities offered by the two countries’ growing markets and expanding infrastructure.

In this connection, they signed a cooperation roadmap for the period 2022-2024, translating the ambition of both countries to consolidate their bilateral relations, based on mutual respect, strong partnership and active solidarity, especially in the areas of education and training; technical cooperation; security collaboration; economic and investment promotion; and exchange of official visits.

At the multilateral level, both sides called for the development of a high-level joint political dialogue and stressed the importance of intensifying their contacts with the aim of further harmonizing their positions within multilateral institutions, such as the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN).