Moroccan Foreign Minister Urges Strategic EU-Africa Partnership at Kigali Summit Prep

The second preparatory ministerial meeting for the next EU-African Union (AU) Summit opened on October 26 in Kigali. Nasser Bourita is leading a strong delegation composed of Mohamed Methqal, ambassador, director general of the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation (AMCI), Omar Amghar, director of the European Union and Mediterranean processes at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Redouane Adghoughi, director of European Affairs.

During this meeting, the foreign ministers of the EU and the AU will have to assess the progress made since the fifth EU-AU summit and identify the common priorities, prospects and challenges to be placed on the agenda. There are also the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, strengthening resilience, investing in ecological and digital transitions, peace, security and global governance, migration and mobility, as well as promoting scientific education and strengthening skills.

In his speech, Nasser Bourita insisted on a strategic update of the partnership. "Our partnership should not be reduced to adopting documents and applauding hard-negotiated consensuses. On the contrary, it should measure progress and welcome completed projects."

"Since 2000, we have adopted 3 roadmaps, but how many have we implemented?" he asked, believing that collective action was still slow to translate into tangible achievements. For him, the next summit scheduled for 2022 should be used to give new impetus to the Africa-Europe partnership. This is why he welcomed the proposal of the Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vincent Biruta, to create a small Ministerial Committee for monitoring and implementation to ensure tangible results and effective implementation of the objectives. He specified that "Morocco is willing to be part of this committee and to host its first meeting."