Morocco-Kenya: Laayoune Dakhla regions sign partnership deal with Mandera County, signaling rapprochement between the two countries

Moroccan Saharan regions of Dakhla-Oued Eddahab and Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra signed on Thursday in Laayoune a partnership agreement with Kenya’s Mandera County Government, a move aimed at strengthening South-South cooperation and consolidating further Morocco’s relations with African countries.

The agreement was inked by President of Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra Regional Council, Sidi Hamdi Ould Errachid, and Governor of Mandera County, Mohamed Adan Khalifa, in the presence of Moroccan and Kenyan councilors.

The signatories have pledged to foster cooperation ties in water management, renewable energies, tourism, agriculture and fisheries. The County of Government of Mandera looks forward to benefiting from the Moroccan Saharan region experience in socioeconomic development, inclusive growth and infrastructures.

During their stay, members of the Kenyan delegation visited several development projects in Laayoune, including the City of Trades & Skills, a new-generation vocational training facility, desalination plant, phosphate port, the local solar energy complex and the sports village.

In August 2024, Kenya’s first ambassador to Morocco, Ms. Jessica Muthoni Gakinya, was received in Rabat by Moroccan foreign minister Nasser Bourita.

Before her posting, Ms. Gakinya had pledged, during a parliamentary hearing, to encourage investors from Morocco to establish a fertilizer factory in Kenya, facilitating access to essential agricultural products for Kenyan farmers.

In March 2024, Bourita received a Kenyan envoy carrying a message from President Ruto to King Mohammed VI.

After he was sworn in as Kenya’s fifth president on September 13, 2022, Mr. William Ruto had decided to withdraw his country’s recognition of the self-proclaimed SADR and close its representation in Nairobi. However, he backtracked the following day under the heavy pressure exerted by the Algerian rulers with their petrodollars.

Last April, Algeria’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf travelled to Nairobi in a bid to urge President Ruto not to change course. But it seems that Kenyan President has already made up his mind and chosen his partners as evidenced by his decision to open an embassy in Rabat to serve his country’s strategic interests.

The newly signed cooperation deal by the County Government of Mandera and Moroccan Sahara region sends a strong message to the Algerian regime.