Akhannouch: Morocco To Help Madagascar Develop Agriculture and Fisheries
PERSISMA, Rabat – Morocco will help Madagascar develop its agriculture and aquaculture capabilities in the coming years in order to improve diplomatic relations, according to Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Aziz Akhannouch.
The minister made the remarks during a press conference at the signing of 22 bilateral cooperation agreements between President Hery Rajaonarimampianina and King Mohammed VI.
“It is with great pleasure and honor, of course, that the entire Malagasy people and I have received King Mohammed VI,” the East African nation’s president said.
New agriculture training schools funded by Morocco in Madagascar will help locals develop their existing land resources, while an information exchange in the business aspects of the fishing industry will benefit the island country as well, Akhannouch said.
King Mohammed VI is currently on the second half of his East Africa tour in Madagascar. Last month, the monarch visited Rwanda, Ethiopia and Tanzania to raise support for Morocco’s return to the African Union.
The kingdom abandoned the continental organization in 1984, after its members decided to admit the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic – which claims sovereignty over the Western Sahara, or Morocco’s Southern Provinces – as a full member.
Earlier this year, Mohammed VI announced that the time had come for Morocco to re-enter the union and makes the arguments regarding the nation’s territorial integrity clear to African allies.
At the beginning of next month, the monarch will visit Zambia and Nigeria. The latter has been an outspoken supporter of the Polisario Front-backed SADR as a member of the Algiers-Abuja-Pretoria axis in continental politics.
