Morocco: King Mohammed VI visits several brother African countries

©Jonathan Rebboah/Wostok Press/MaxpppFrance,Paris24/05/2012Le Roi du Maroc Mohammed VI quitte le Palais de l Elysee The King of Morocco Mohammed VI at the Elysee Palace

King Mohammed VI will be embarking on an official tour to West and Central Africa for a couple of days during which he will visit Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast and Gabon. He is expected to meet with their presidents before presiding over the conclusion of several bilateral agreements and the inauguration of projects geared towards development, the sharing of expertise and the reinforcement of economic partnership.

The release stated that the tour to the “brother African countries” will begin on Wednesday and pointed out that the visit to Guinea Bissau is within the framework of an “official visit” while that of the other countries is a “working and friendly” visit.

Since his ascension to the throne in 1999, King Mohammed has been reinforcing ties with Sub-Saharan Africa. In the past few years, his visits to Western and Central Africa have been recurrent on an annual basis and that has helped to solidify bilateral ties.

This year’s visit will be an opportunity to review and evaluate the projects that were sealed in the past especially that of 2014 when he was accompanied by an important delegation of economic actors in the scope of the South-South cooperation.

Senegal, Ivory Coast and Gabon have been among the King’s top list in the region due to the old and strong ties that they continue to share with Morocco. The Tijanniya brotherhood that derives its origin from the ancient Moroccan city of Fes has a strong following in Senegal with pilgrims flocking to the city during the annual pilgrimage while Abidjan has an important Moroccan population and a residential area named after Morocco. Ties between Libreville and Rabat were strong between the King Hassan II and Omar Bongo and their sons are continuing to cement it.