Chad reaffirms UN primacy in settling Sahara regional conflict

Chadian Foreign Minister Cherif Mahamat Zene reaffirmed Friday from Rabat the position of his country on the primacy of the role of the United Nations in settling the regional conflict over the Moroccan Sahara.

The Chadian Foreign Minister said at a press briefing, following talks with his Moroccan peer Nasser Bourita, that his country called on the newly appointed Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, “to revive the talks process under the Security Council resolution 2602.”

For his part, Bourita welcomed Chad’s constructive stance on the Moroccan Sahara issue, recalling that this African state had withdrawn its recognition of the so-called ”SADR” in 2006.

He also emphasized Chad’s support for the African Union’s positive approach to this artificial regional conflict.

Bourita said his talks with his Chadian counterpart were also an opportunity to coordinate the positions and views of the two countries on several issues relating to West Africa, the Sahel region, and the CEN-SAD.

During the talks, Morocco and Chad signed two cooperation agreements in the fields of international road transport and logistics, organizing international road transport of goods and passengers between the two countries or in transit through their territories, and a Memorandum of Understanding relating to the granting of scholarships and internships to Chadian students. The MoU aims to promote Moroccan-Chadian cooperation in the cultural, scientific, technical and socio-economic fields.

Training has always been an essential element in bilateral relations, as Morocco has trained more than 1,000 Chadian executives.

Under the MoU, the two countries have agreed to increase the number of Moroccan scholarships awarded to Chadians to reach 150 scholarships annually in academic, professional and managerial training.

The two countries are also bound by a strong religious cooperation, Morocco having trained 200 Chadian imams at the Mohammed VI Institute for the training of Imams, Mourchidines and Mourchidates. Part of this cooperation, Morocco built a mosque in N’Djamena to strengthen spiritual and religious ties between the two brotherly countries.

During their talks, the two foreign ministers agreed to hold the joint commission in March 2022, in order to strengthen the legal framework which, over the past two years, has been marked by the signing of six conventions.

This joint commission, as put by Bourita, will be an ideal opportunity to bring together businessmen from the two countries.

The Moroccan private sector has a strong presence in Chad in various fields, in particular in the banking sector, telecommunications, construction and infrastructure.