The third meeting of the Monitoring and Support Group for the Transition in Mali (GST-Mali) was held Tuesday in Lomé, Togo with the participation of Morocco.

The Kingdom is represented at this meeting by a delegation composed of the Ambassador, Director General of Bilateral Relations and Regional Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Mr. Fouad Yazourh, the Ambassador, Director General of the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation (AMCI), Mr. Mohamed Methqal, the Director of the African Union (AU), Greater Maghreb and Arab Maghreb Union Affairs at the Ministry, Mr. Hassane Boukili, and the Chargé d'affaires at the Moroccan Embassy in Togo, Mr. Hamid Mechino.

Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Fouad Yazourh said that this new mobilization of states and partners to take part in the 3rd meeting of the GST-Mali is in line with the spirit of pan-African solidarity, adding that it also reflects a common desire to consolidate the progress made recently by Mali.

These advances are the result of concerted efforts between different actors in Mali, ECOWAS, the AU and more broadly, within the international community, he added, noting that the positive momentum recorded in recent months is a source of optimism for Morocco, in view of the major strides made by Mali, including the adoption of a new electoral law and the establishment of a Commission for the drafting of a new Constitution, the definition of an electoral timetable over a period of 24 months, and the scheduling, in February 2024, of presidential elections.

While reopening the horizon of stability in Mali and in the entire sub-region, these real advances cannot be sustained without regional and international mobilization, he stressed.

Mr. Yazourh highlighted, in this sense, that the Kingdom of Morocco, under the vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, remains faithful to the ancestral and historical ties that unite it to Mali and the brotherly Malian people.

It is in this spirit that Morocco has contributed, since 2019, to the appeasement of the situation in Mali, he said, recalling that the Kingdom had undertaken, in consultation with the transition authorities, concrete steps to bring together the various Malian actors, including Sufi families around the fundamentals.

He also said that under the leadership of His Majesty the King, Morocco is working for a better future in Mali.

He added that Mali is the fourth recipient of Moroccan foreign direct investment (FDI) on a continental scale, and the second recipient of Moroccan scholarships for training with a quota of 200 scholarships granted for the year 2020-2021.

Morocco has trained more than 500 Malian Imams at the Mohammed VI Institute of Imams, Morchidines and Morchidates, he said, noting that His Majesty King Mohammed VI has appointed 8 Malians to the Higher Council of the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Ulema.

He stressed that the new sequence that opens in the transition process of Mali, is also an opportunity to question any initiative or process that struggles to demonstrate its contribution to the stabilization efforts of Mali.