A French delegation visiting Morocco with President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday announced plans to invest in the disputed Western Sahara as part of a broader agreement and partnership between the two countries.
The projects in the Dakhla and Gelmim Oued Noun areas are among initiatives worth 10 billion euros ($10.8 billion) announced during President Macron’s three-day visit to Rabat, including It also includes agreements to build and expand renewable energy and transportation infrastructure across the African Kingdom. .
In a 40-minute speech to the Moroccan parliament, President Macron said France’s policy shift in the disputed territory would help write a new chapter in France’s close and delicate relationship with the former colony, with which it maintains deep economic ties. He said he was deaf.
“The present and future (of Western Sahara) lies within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty,” he told an applauding audience in Morocco’s parliament.
President Macron referred to a letter he wrote to King Mohammed VI in July expressing France’s position, saying that Morocco’s plan to give the region’s indigenous Sahrawi people autonomy rather than independence has been in place for decades. He said it was the “sole” basis for resolving the dispute.
Later, in a speech at Rabat International University, President Macron reiterated that several of the announced projects, including those by France’s development agency AFD, are located in disputed territory.
Western Sahara is a former Spanish colony in northwestern Africa, roughly the size of Britain, dominated by Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front, which is based in Algeria and controls a sliver of land beyond Moroccan territory. Both countries claim territorial rights. I made a sand wall.
The United Nations considers the region to be “non-self-governing” and has since brokered a ceasefire in 1991, funding a peacekeeping mission aimed at organizing a Sahrawi referendum to decide the region’s future. I’ve done it.
After years of impasse over who could take part in such votes, Morocco announced plans in 2007 to give the region autonomy rather than independence. The conflict, often forgotten outside northwest Africa, remained dormant until Polisario withdrew from the cease-fire agreement. A fire broke out in 2020, sparking what the United Nations calls “low-level hostility” between the two countries.
Around that time, Morocco began efforts to garner support for the plan from political and economic partners. France is a key permanent member of the U.N. Security Council that has historically supported Morocco’s claims, but it lags behind countries such as the United States, Israel and Spain in supporting autonomy plans.
Polisario and its allies, mainly Algeria, protested Morocco’s move, arguing that it was transforming the disputed region demographically and economically while leaving the conflict unresolved.
France’s investment will expand Morocco’s footprint in the 80% of territory under its control, complementing efforts to develop the territory and encourage Moroccans to migrate from other parts of the country.
The French Development Agency will allocate 25 million euros ($27 million) to develop Gelmim Oud Noun, part of which is located on the northern edge of the disputed area.
As part of the visit, which aims to “accelerate” the France-Morocco partnership, French company MGH Energy, which focuses on decarbonizing air and sea transport, is also partnering with a Moroccan gas retailer to build a second The company plans to produce fuel near the city of Dakhla. in the disputed Western Sahara.
The project will convert wind and solar power into green hydrogen electricity and power the conversion of stored carbon dioxide into synthetic fuels. Recycled methanol is sold as marine fuel, and recycled kerosene is sold as aviation fuel.
The production of renewable fuels could help Europe towards its goal of reducing emissions and achieving carbon neutrality in the coming years. According to the International Energy Agency, transportation accounts for more than 20% of carbon emissions worldwide.
MGH Energy President Jean-Michel Germa said in a statement that the project “paves the way for large-scale distribution of renewable synthetic fuels produced in Morocco.”
The company said it plans to invest 4.8 billion euros ($5.2 billion) to start the first phase of operations by 2030. 2030 coincides with when Morocco hopes the Atlantic port it is building in Dakhla will open, allowing exports from Morocco and its West African neighbors.
However, the legality of exporting goods produced in the disputed region has been called into question by the European Court of Justice’s ruling earlier this month invalidating old trade agreements. The court ruled that any agreement between the European Union and Morocco regarding goods from the disputed territory must have the consent of the people of Western Sahara.
It is unclear how the French project intends to comply with the ruling and consult with Sahrawi people who have lived in refugee camps in southwestern Algeria since 1975.
