Nigeria Reaffirms Support for Morocco’s Sahara Claim Ahead of AU Summit

After the telephone call between the two leaders, the director of public diplomacy within the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated, in a tweet published the same day, that Mohammed VI and Muhammadu Buhari "welcomed the positive dynamics" of bilateral relations and expressed their commitment to materialize two projects, including the construction of a gas pipeline between Nigeria and Morocco and the creation of a fertilizer plant in Nigeria, as soon as possible, reports Jeune Afrique.

According to Khalid Chegraoui, an associate researcher at the Policy Center For the New South, in Rabat, although Moroccan diplomacy declares "having no information on the subject", the two heads of state have probably addressed the issue of the Sahara in their conversation. But, with the American recognition of the Moroccanness of the Sahara and in the wake of the AU summit, things are getting complicated, not to mention that it will be the DRC, a friend of Morocco, which will hold the presidency of the AU.

An embarrassing situation for Algeria and the Polisario who fear a proposal to suspend the "Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR)" from the AU bodies. In this sense, the day after the telephone call between the two leaders, the Polisario leader dispatched Mohamed Ould Salek, his "Minister of Foreign Affairs" to Nigeria and Angola, but the latter did not obtain satisfaction, since the Nigerian president would have marked his choice for a position of "neutrality" on the Sahara issue, while Algeria hoped for his support. Same reaction from Angola and Kenya.

"With the exception of Algeria, all African countries have nuanced their position on the Sahara. The issue remains very important on the African scene, but the leaders of the continent have understood that it also hinders more important issues," said Khalid Chegraoui.