Morocco arrived at the 14th edition of the Marché des Arts du Spectacle Africain (MASA) in Abidjan not merely as a participating nation but as guest of honor — and it made every minute of that distinction count. The biennial showcase, held in Abidjan under the theme ‘performing arts as a tool of economic and social integration’, opened on Saturday 12 April with a Moroccan presence carefully calibrated to project cultural depth, commercial seriousness and diplomatic intent in equal measure.
The Moroccan delegation included officials from the Ministry of Culture, who took their place at the opening ceremony, alongside the Ivorian Cabinet, led by the Prime Minister. The audience was treated to a performance by the Aïssaouia troupe under maestro Haj Said Berrada — a taste of what will unfold across the full MASA program running until April 18. The broader Moroccan artistic line-up features the Gnaoua troupe of Maalem Hassan Boussou and Ribab Fusion, a group whose electric reworkings of traditional Amazigh string music have built a significant following on the continental circuit.
Alongside the performances, Morocco set up a ‘Trésors du Maroc’ exhibition stand, presenting the caftan designs of stylist Kaoutar Youssefi alongside Saharan leather crafts, Zellige tilework, traditional cuisine and calligraphy. The scenography was deliberate: by placing the leather goods of Morocco’s southern provinces at the center of a professional arts market, the delegation wove the Kingdom’s territorial narrative into a cultural and commercial package that speaks directly to the visitors, producers and international diffusers who constitute MASA’s professional audience.
Youth and Culture Minister Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, addressing the ceremony remotely, framed the invitation as more than protocol. He recalled the longstanding friendship between Morocco and Côte d’Ivoire — one sustained by the impulsion of King Mohammed VI and President Alassane Ouattara — and signaled that the two countries’ cultural ministries are working toward deeper collaboration on cultural industries, with a focus on the sector’s measurable economic dimensions.
The signal Morocco is sending at MASA 2026 is legible to the continent. In a professional market attended by 99 artists and groups from 51 countries, 39 of whom are selected for the festival program, occupying the guest-of-honor position with a dense, cohesive and commercially oriented presence is a statement about how Rabat now conceives its African cultural policy: not as aid or folklore, but as a mature export industry and a vehicle for structured partnerships that outlast the festival itself.
