King Mohammed VI advocates for Africa's economic transformation at Ibrahim Governance Forum 2025
In his address, read by royal advisor André Azoulay, the King outlined strategies to ensure Africa's development. He called for a «paradigm shift in development financing (...) to devise innovative mechanisms and fully leverage the contributions of the African diaspora».
He stressed that «Africa cannot rely solely on public development aid or external funding, which, by nature, generate debt». Instead, he urged Africans to foster «an institutional, economic, and social environment conducive to development».
Recalling his February 22, 2015 speech in Abidjan at the opening of the Morocco-Ivory Coast Forum, the King reiterated his call to «strengthen and expand intra-African trade», highlighting that «Africa's share of global trade does not exceed 3%», while «intra-African trade accounts for only 16% of the continent's total trade volume, compared to 60% in Europe and 50% in Asia».
«With 40% of the world's raw material reserves and 30% of critical minerals, as well as vast mineral, energy, water, agricultural, and biological resources, Africa can no longer afford to simply export its raw materials. The time has come for Africa to fully harness its wealth», he declared.
The King underscored that «Morocco is now positioning itself as a strategic catalyst for South-South partnerships», citing concrete, transformative projects that will reshape the continent's economic and social landscape, including the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline (AAGP), described as «a true corridor for integration and economic development». Morocco, he added, is also committed to financing African projects through the «Mohammed VI Investment Fund» and «Casablanca Finance City».
«Development cannot be decreed; it is built through ambitious policies, investment in human capital, and rigorous economic governance».
In his 2015 address in Abidjan, King Mohammed VI emphasized that «if the last century was one of independence for African states, the 21st century must be one of triumph over the scourges of underdevelopment, poverty, and exclusion».
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According to the French documents, the King's position was guided by three advanced objectives that were formulated according to regional and international circumstances. First, he aimed to establish Moroccan leadership of a 'Maghreb Union' independent from Nasser's Cairo bloc, seeking to cement Morocco's role as a leading power in North Africa. Second, he wanted to maintain the Moroccan monarchy's prestige in the Arab world by providing 'remarkable assistance' to Algerian brothers. Third, he carefully balanced relations with France by maintaining minimum financial and technical cooperation to avoid an open confrontation that might threaten Morocco's recently gained independence. The only way to reconcile these three imperatives, according to the document, was King Mohammed V's vision of positioning himself as a 'mediator' or 'arbitrator' in the Algerian conflict. 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Morocco allowed the establishment of military bases for the National Liberation Army (ALN) on its territory, received Algerian refugees and provided political and humanitarian protection, issued Moroccan passports to members of the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN), and even used diplomatic pouches to transport sensitive communications and documents. Judicial authorities overlooked certain revolutionary activities within the country, at times secretly releasing detained FLN members to support the cause. Moreover, Nador was converted into a radio communications center serving revolutionary propaganda, while logistical networks facilitated weapons transport, the construction of military bases, training camps, and ammunition depots across the region. All this, as the document indicates, was not subject to internal dispute or government hesitation, but received clear approval from the Moroccan cabinet. 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Moroccan authorities also expressed reservations about the conduct of FLN intelligence operatives operating within the country, alongside suspicions regarding the Front's ambiguous stance during the Rif unrest in Morocco. Furthermore, the failure of FLN representative Kheireddin to fully earn the trust of Moroccan officials further strained relations between the two sides. Morocco bore the political and diplomatic consequences of that deep moral alignment The foundation of solidarity, however, remained unshaken. As Libyan historian Ali Mohammed Al-Sallabi documented, King Mohammed V publicly championed Algeria's cause during a September 1956 speech in Oujda, directly challenging French colonial narratives. 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