The Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, confirmed that organizing the African-American Business Summit in Morocco (July 19-22), which opened its 14th session today, Wednesday, in the city of Marrakech, is an affirmation of the Kingdom’s natural role as a gateway to Africa and a link with its global partners, such as Europe, the United States, and South America.

Bourita explained, in a speech during the opening session of this summit, organized under the auspices of King Mohammed VI in partnership with the "Corporate Council on Africa," under the slogan "Let's Build the Future Together," that holding the summit on Moroccan soil carries multiple meanings: "It is an embodiment of Morocco’s full commitment to its natural belonging to Africa and its keenness to accompany its stability and sustainable economic development."

He added that holding the summit in Morocco is "an expression of the maturity of the Moroccan-American strategic partnership, which, to the extent it develops bilaterally, contributes directly and effectively to serving security and stability in other geographical areas, especially Africa and the Middle East."

In this regard, the minister affirmed that Moroccan-American relations are characterized by their strength, richness, and leadership at the African level, highlighting that "it is well known that the Kingdom of Morocco was historically the first country to recognize the independence of the United States of America, and it is also the first and only African country to have a free trade agreement with the United States.

It is also one of the countries that has a strong and multidimensional strategic partnership with this friendly country, a partnership that today allows cooperation to extend, with full confidence and stability, to cover the entire African continent."    

He also confirmed that "the strong presence of more than 1,000 participants at the summit highlights the significant and promising capacities and prospects of the partnership between Africa and the United States in the fields of trade, investment, and business.

It also emphasizes the importance of the private sector and development and investment institutions as a fundamental leverage for this partnership."

He continued, stating that "while this meeting coincides with a hopeful period regarding the abatement of the COVID pandemic, it also occurs at a stage in which the global economy is witnessing deep disruptions, affecting production and investment chains, and exchanges alike, resulting in inflation and worrying economic pressures, which requires more than ever adhering to cooperation as the only way to ensure security, smooth trade flow, and maintain investor confidence."

Bourita affirmed that in this challenging context, which is witnessing the reshaping of the international economic landscape, the role of the African continent emerges as a growth reservoir for the global economy and a strong ally to its international partners, highlighting that owing to the continent's human capital and natural resources, considering its future structured and interconnected market within the African Continental Free Trade Area, its regional economic communities, and its economic growth rate of 6%, Africa possesses the capacities that enable it to face crises and can strengthen its sovereignty in sectors of major strategic importance such as health, food security, energy, and infrastructure, thereby ensuring inclusive growth and just and equitable development.

In this context, he emphasized that "the time has come for Africa to reap the fruits of its numerous capacities and potentials, its vibrant youth, and to undertake its pivotal and natural role on the international stage and in the major global developments underway," highlighting that "if the wealth and capacities that the fifty-four African countries possess are a blessing that constitutes the richness and uniqueness of the continent, they also represent a responsibility on the shoulders of their countries and governments and a challenge to the spirit of creativity and entrepreneurship among their economic actors, aiming to achieve the path leading to inclusive growth and sustainable development."

Bourita noted that "never before have we been in greater need than today to work together to build an African economy that looks to the future, drawing its strength from integration into the global trade system and international value chains, a sound and robust economy that prioritizes industrialization, employment, and value creation, ensuring our continent a dignified position on the international economic map." 

He pointed out that this will only be possible under two conditions: the first is that African countries undertake the necessary economic reforms to create an appropriate business climate and that the private sector fulfills its national role; the second is mobilizing the continent’s international partners to support the development programs of its countries, explaining that the success of Africa’s partnerships with international actors is never measured by the number of its programs and meetings, but rather by the number of tangible projects that result from them and by their actual impact on development trajectories in the continent’s countries.

Moreover, he stressed the necessity to give special importance to financing small and very small enterprises, proposing "to establish a mechanism to monitor the implementation of projects resulting from the partnership and to create facilities to access financing, according to an approach that prioritizes ensuring efficiency and effectiveness in handling projects to achieve tangible results and measurable progress, contributing to the development of fruitful economic relations between the United States and African countries."

Bourita also affirmed that "Morocco, under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, is proud of its belonging to its continent—Africa—and believes in its future," highlighting that "true to its active commitment to building African unity since 1961, Morocco continues its continuous mobilization for the emergence of a confident African continent, open to the future, loyal to the commitment made by King Mohammed VI to adopt a coherent and integrated policy toward our African brothers, based on the joint investment of resources, promoting human development, and strengthening economic cooperation."

Therefore, Minister Bourita adds, "Morocco has placed trilateral cooperation at the heart of joint work with the United States and Africa, believing that the bonds of trust and cooperation connecting Morocco to both of them must be invested in a creative momentum for development based on integration and pooling capabilities and efforts," highlighting that "the United States, which has continuously supported the continent's causes since the independence of its countries, has been and remains an important partner for Africa, a partner that shares part of its history and geography, too, through the Atlantic Ocean, cooperating with its countries individually and collectively in all fields and at all levels."

He concluded by saying, "I am confident that African-American relations today have the capacities and prospects to contribute qualitatively to joint African takeoff and the optimal investment of aspects of integration and synergy beneficial to all," expressing hope that this meeting "will mark a major turning point in the course of the African-American partnership in business, trade, and investment, supporting the role of the private sector and economic actors and contributing to the success of the anticipated American-African summit in December 2022 and enriching its agenda."

The 14th session of this summit, held in Marrakech, notably features the participation of an important American governmental delegation, African ministers, decision-makers from major multinational American companies, and the African business community.

This session provides an opportunity to establish trilateral business partnerships (American, Moroccan, African) looking towards the future, as well as to reinforce Morocco’s strategic position as the only African country that has signed a free trade agreement with the United States, as it is an African hub and a reference economic partner for the United States.

The summit will be characterized by organizing high-level dialogues, plenary sessions, panel discussions, round tables, and other activities on the continent’s priorities in the fields of food security, health, agriculture, energy transition, new technologies, infrastructure, and integration of industrial systems.