Speaking on the occasion of Africa Day, MFA Bourita highlighted HM the King's deep conviction that the future of the Kingdom is intrinsically linked to the future of the Continent, which can only be built through the efforts of its own people and the strengthening of active cooperation between its countries, in service of its people.

In this regard, he emphasized the relevance of this year's theme for the celebration of Africa Day, namely "Integration and Development in Africa: Accelerating Connectivity and Intra-African Cooperation", adding that it reflects the vision of the Sovereign, who has constantly reaffirmed that Africa’s future relies on effective complementarity and cooperation between its countries.

In this perspective, this theme constitutes a frank call for comprehensive mobilization and proactive action to achieve African integration and make development ambitions a tangible reality, through enhanced connectivity and economic cooperation between African countries and their peoples.

The Minister also pointed out that celebrating Africa Day is not merely symbolic; it is a call for collective and responsible action to strengthen ties among African nations and elevate the level of intra-African economic cooperation, which are two major pillars of comprehensive and sustainable development.

"Morocco does not celebrate Africa one day a year. Morocco lives Africa, invests in Africa, and believes in Africa every day,” MFA Bourita stressed, noting that "Africa is moving forward, reinventing itself, and imposing a new narrative of itself to the world.”

He also emphasized that HM the King believes that "Africa is not a battleground for competition, but a space of solidarity, cooperation, and co-emergence," stressing the need to strengthen African value chains and to locally transform the continent's resources.

"The diagnosis is stubborn: we account for barely 3% of global trade, and only 17% of our exchanges are intra-African, while chronic dependency on food, industrial, and pharmaceutical imports is a reality across nearly the whole continent," he pointed out.

"Changing this situation is no longer a matter of pride, but of survival. And the world, which is changing so quickly before our eyes, will not wait for us,"MFA Bourita underscored.

"Yes, Africa is moving, yes, it is attracting, yes, it is inventing. But Africa must now accelerate, interconnect, and equip itself with sovereign levers, integrated value chains, and industries capable of transforming its raw materials locally," he said.

According to MFA Bourita, "Morocco does not claim to hold a miracle model. But it has made a clear choice: that of action, consistency, and keeping its word," adding that "the Kingdom acts as a long-term partner, while some see African sister countries merely as markets to conquer or voices to subjugate."

"We do not theorize solidarity, we implement it. We do not promise, we build. We do not just trade, we invest," he emphasized.

In this regard, MFA Bourita recalled several initiatives in favor of the continent, notably the delivery of vaccines to African countries during the Covid pandemic, investment in medical, educational, agricultural, and energy infrastructure, in addition to flagship projects such as the Nigeria-Morocco Atlantic Gas Pipeline, the Atlantic African States Initiative, and the initiative to facilitate Sahel countries' access to the Atlantic Ocean.

"Our ambition for Africa is well-known, it is sincere, and it is based on three fundamental principles: active solidarity, mutual respect, and concrete action," he noted, adding that "this is what drives our belief in an Africa that charts its own path, an Africa of achievements and transformative projects, not of sterile and childish rhetoric."

"We must move from an Africa of good intentions to an Africa of good practices and tangible results,” MFA Bourita said, noting that “Africa will not progress at the pace or along the trajectory we desire if it remains the adjustment variable of narrow interests."

"Morocco firmly believes that our continent must adopt a clear, coherent, and strategically autonomous economic agenda, particularly through the transformation and enhancement of our raw materials, the digitization of our administrations to facilitate integration, and the strengthening of our energy security, in addition to dismantling tariff and non-tariff barriers hindering the AfCFTA and reinforcing our food sovereignty by developing agriculture to ensure food security,” he pointed out.

For the Minister, "we need a real integration shock,’" adding that this "shock will not come from outside. It will come from us Africans, by us Africans."

"Morocco is ready to be the catalyst. Not to lead, but to unite. Not to impose, but to propose," he concluded.