Opening of many consulates in Moroccan Sahara, a diplomatic momentum -Jeune Afrique

French magazine ‘Jeune Afrique’ highlighted the diplomatic impetus surrounding the opening of consulates by several countries in Morocco’s southern provinces, echoing the inauguration of Chad’s consulate general in Dakhla on August 14.

“Chad is the latest country to have joined this growing list,” the Paris-based magazine recalls, noting that the opening of the Chadian consulate is also in line with the Atlantic Initiative proposed by King Mohammed VI at the end of 2023, aiming to provide the four landlocked Sahel countries (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Chad) with better access to the Atlantic.

“The city of Dakhla alone hosts seventeen consulates, reinforcing its dual status as a diplomatic hub and a gateway to Africa, thanks to its future port (Dakhla Atlantique), which is set to become one of the largest in the region,” says the magazine.

The article states that, in addition to Chad, Dakhla also houses consular representations from French-speaking African countries, including Djibouti (February 2020), the Democratic Republic of Congo (December 2020), Senegal (April 2021), Togo (July 2022) and Guinea (July 2023).

The English, Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries on the continent “are also well represented, as the city hosts diplomatic representations from Gambia (January 2020), Liberia (March 2020), Equatorial Guinea (October 2020), Sierra Leone (August 2021), Guinea-Bissau (October 2021) and Cape Verde (August 2022), in addition to missions from two Caribbean states–Haiti (December 2020) and Suriname (May 2022)–as well as the Eastern Caribbean States Organization (with 7 member states) since March 2022,” the article adds. Moreover, the Dominican Republic also announced plans to open a consulate in the city.

Laayoune, on its part, hosts twelve consulates mainly those of French-speaking Comoros (December 2019), Gabon and Central African Republic (January 2020), Côte d’Ivoire and Burundi (February 2020). English-speaking African countries, such as Zambia and Eswatini (October 2020), and Malawi (July 2021) have also consulates in Laayoune, alongside the consular representation of Portuguese-speaking São Tomé and Príncipe (January 2020). Laayoune was also picked by several Arab states as host of their consulates. These include the United Arab Emirates (November 2020), Bahrain (December 2020) and Jordan (March 2021).