King Mohammed VI Attends Summit on Blue Fund for Congo Basin in Brazzaville

King Mohammed VI arrived Saturday in Brazzaville to take part in the first Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Climate Commission and the Blue Fund for the Congo Basin as “special guest”.

After the summit, which will take place on Sunday, the King will pay a working and friendship visit to the Republic of Congo during which he will have bilateral talks with President Denis Sassou-Nguesso, the Royal Office said in a statement.

The King will also chair the signing-ceremony of several agreements between Morocco and the Republic of Congo, the statement added.

The Monarch is accompanied by his advisors Fouad Ali El Himma and Yassir Zenagui, and a large ministerial delegation

The Blue Fund for the Congo Basin Commission was set up on the initiative of King Mohammed VI at the Africa Action Summit, held in Marrakech in November 2016 on the sidelines of the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 22).

This Brazzaville summit is a recognition of the pioneering role played by Morocco in defending the environmental interests of the African continent, combining humanism, sustainable development and good governance.

This summit aims to collect resources to finance programs and projects in the areas of the blue economy, the green economy and the fight against climate change, including the fight against poverty in accordance with the spirit of the Marrakech Declaration (COP22).

The Blue Fund, with a capital estimated at €3 billion, aims to develop the economy of the Congo basin in the long term, through several initiatives, including offering other alternatives to deforestation, strengthening irrigation of farmland in the savannah and supporting eco-tourism.

In March this year, Rabat hosted a meeting of the ad hoc coordination group, under the chairmanship of the Congolese Minister of the Environment and the Moroccan Minister of State for Sustainable Development. Experts at the meeting agreed on the terms of reference for a detailed, six-month preparatory study. The study will make recommendations on which the crucial decisions on the financing, the operational management and the strategic governance of the Congo Basin Blue Fund will be taken and draw up a first investment plan.

Ten countries have signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the Congo Basin Blue Fund: Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Morocco, Republic of Congo, and Rwanda.