Covid-19: EU welcomes Moroccan King’s African initiative
The European Union lauded King Mohammed VI’s Africa initiative, calling for the establishment of an operational framework to support African countries in the management of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This initiative seems to fit perfectly with Morocco’s return to the African family, which we have observed with great interest for several years, especially in many areas essential to EU-Africa relations,” EU spokesperson Peter Stano told Maghreb Arab Press (MAP).
He added that the EU is convinced that Morocco will be able to play its full part in the collective efforts of the continent and its institutions with a view to combating the virus.
The spokesman expressed the EU’s readiness to promote and support such initiatives “as part of its renewed global strategy towards the African continent.”
King Mohammed VI made his African proposal during phone talks earlier this month with President of Senegal Macky Sall and President of Côte D’Ivoire Alassane Dramane Ouattara. The Monarch discussed with his interlocutors the evolution of COVID-19 in Africa and the pandemic’s impact on the continent.
The King’s African initiative to deal with the coronavirus pandemic was hailed by several international media as a pragmatic initiative oriented towards the exchange of experiences and good practices among African States and as worth replicating in different parts of the world.
About the EU support to Africa in these difficult times, the Union’s spokesman said that Europe announced measures worth more than €20 billion to support research, health systems, and water networks in EU partner countries to mitigate the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic.
He said that more than €3.25 billion is directly intended to support actions in Africa, explaining that €2.06 billion will go to sub-Saharan Africa and €1.19 billion to North African countries.
Africa, according to the EU spokesperson, will also benefit from important guarantees from the European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD), loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB), and substantial contributions from member states and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Stano emphasized that the EU has just laid the groundwork for a new strategy with Africa. The strategy’s proposals aim at intensifying cooperation in all key areas of the partnership, including a green transition, digital transformation, sustainable growth and jobs, peace and governance, and migration and mobility.
