“This project will create a new dynamic that goes beyond bilateral partnerships between Morocco and African countries,” Benkhadra said during a panel discussion held as part of the 13th edition of the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS) “Atlantic Dialogues” annual international conference. She deemed it a catalyst project for regional integration, especially given its involvement with 13 Atlantic-bordering countries, along with three additional non-Atlantic countries.
“We have maintained a partnership policy with African countries, which resulted in various projects in the fields of agriculture, industry and energy,” she remarked during a panel themed “Morocco’s Royal Atlantic Initiative: taking action from Africa to strengthen Atlantic cooperation.”
She further emphasized that this project is part of this overall vision, which has just been completed by the Royal Atlantic Initiative aimed at creating prosperity and growth and establishing security in Africa.
The Morocco-Nigeria gas pipeline, conceived through the vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, aims to accelerate access to energy and contribute to the development of numerous industrial sectors, notably mining, she explained. It will also create jobs, an “extremely important” factor on the human, political and security levels.
She also emphasized the scope and regional dimension of this integrating project, which goes beyond energy infrastructure or access to energy, noting that it is also a structuring project in the momentum of relations between Africa and Europe.
The panel was attended by the Kingdom’s ambassador in Washington, Youssef Amrani, and Nuno António de Noronha Bragança, coordinator of the Atlantic Centre (Portugal).
The 13th edition of the “Atlantic Dialogues” opened in Rabat on Thursday, under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, at the PCNS headquarters, on the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) campus.
This year’s conference, which will focus on the Royal Atlantic Initiative, takes a different approach from previous editions. Instead of centering on a single theme, it will be organized around several key cross-cutting topics, advocating a new way of holding the international conference that combines action with dialogue.
According to the PCNS, the conference will be attended by former Heads of state and government, current and former ministers, diplomats, high-ranking civil servants, researchers and think tank representatives.
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