Rabat – The 2019 Social Progress Index has ranked Morocco 82 in a list of 149 countries with a score of 66.04.
The index shows Morocco slipping seven spots from 76 to 82nd, a notable change within a year mainly due to low scores in “access to advanced education” and “inclusiveness.”
Morocco’s scorecard in the index 11 red dots, which represents the country’s performances in some measurement.
The index listed Morocco in a low position in “the adult literacy rate” indicator with a 69.43 score.
Morocco also scored low in access to quality education with a score of only 1.47.
Other indicators in which Morocco scored low include freedom of religion with a score of 1.44, and political rights with a score of 14.
Indicators such as “environmental quality” and “inclusiveness” also show low scores for Morocco.
With regards to Morocco’s approach with sexual orientation, the index shows Morocco getting a score of 7.21 in the “acceptance of gays and lesbians.”
Morocco also received a score of 1.47 in terms of “equality of political power by socioeconomic position.”
In terms of quality of education, the report shows that Morocco has a low score of 4.50 in the “women’s average years in school.”
Yellow dots, which represents average performance in the examined indicators, are dominant in Morocco’s scorecard.
Morocco has an average performance in undernourishment. It scored 3.90 in that category and 133.52 in maternal mortality. The country’s scores are average in almost all indicators, except for personal safety, homicide rate, corruption, and quality of electricity, as well as for access to electricity, in which it either performs comparatively well or slightly over-performs.
Recent efforts and prospects
Morocco ranked 76 in the 2018 Social Progress Index. The relatively bleak assessment suggests that, while political reforms efforts have been made, there is still a long way to go for Morocco to come to terms with its persisting social crisis.
Recently, the government has vowed to end social disparities. In most of his latest speeches, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI consistently identified social disparities as the country’s number one priority. The King has called for the implementation of a new development model.
The King acknowledged that the country has made significant progress in several areas, including rights and freedom, infrastructure, and other sectors.”
“We have taken a qualitative leap in terms of infrastructure: highways, high-speed train, big ports, renewable energy, and urban rehabilitation. We have also made significant progress in reinforcing and consolidating rights and freedoms, in giving a healthy and solid footing to our practice of democracy,” he said in his Throne Day speech in July.
The King, however, has equally acknowledged that this progress is not enough.
“We know that developing infrastructure is not enough, no matter how important that may be,” he said.
In recent weeks, the monarch has followed up on his promise to inject new blood into the government. The monarch has insisted that this would entail inclusive decision-making, as well as trust-building with citizens.
On September 21, King Mohammed VI received Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani to discuss a prospective government reshuffle. During the meeting, the monarch assessed the progress in the “implementation of the royal guidelines set out in the last state of the nation address.”
Rabat – When I was 16, a middle-aged man stopped me on a street corner, ostensibly asking for directions. It soon became clear that he had no interest in finding the nearest metro station. Calling me “beautiful,” he asked for my phone number, and when I refused, he literally chased me to the restaurant where I was meeting friends.
At 18, I was groped by a stranger outside a nightclub, and at 23 verbally and physically harassed by a colleague in the school I worked at.
At 26, a riot policeman grabbed my breasts and called me a w***e during a stop and search. And at 27 I was chased through a market by a stranger wanting to “talk.”
I am not alone. According to Globalissues.org, 75% of women globally have experienced sexual harassment. It is a serious issue, not to be taken lightly, and it is a global one.
The first incident took place in Madrid, the second two in London, the third in France, and the most recent in Casablanca. Have these incidents led me to believe that all Spanish, English, French, and Moroccan men are perverts? No, because that would be a gross generalization, and it would be xenophobic.
‘Moroccan men are so disgusting even insects won’t land on them’
You can imagine my surprise, then, when I heard a comedian in my favorite podcast saying that all Moroccan “men are so disgusting that even insects won’t land on them” and that a visit to Morocco was like a trip to “the patriarchy.”
Sara Pascoe, a well known intersectional feminist comedian, told listeners of the Guilty Feminist that she could not sleep in her hotel in Morocco because she “was terrified one of these men was going to break into [her] room and murder” her.
After my initial shock at hearing such statements on a podcast I have always enjoyed for its famously politically correct, intersectional stance, I discovered that Pascoe regularly uses this skit. On BBC Radio 4, she even referred to Moroccans as “hungry hippos.” So why would a comedian, known for her liberal and politically correct attitudes think it was acceptable to generalize about an entire population based on one brief experience?
Pascoe recounted her experience on holiday in Morocco, where, she said, as a solo female traveler, she was harassed on the street, leaving her in tears. Now, this does sound like a truly unpleasant experience, and I do not mean to belittle it in any way. I just question whether this one experience can be used as a basis for a judgment on an entire nation.
Statistics from Globalissues.org show that 60-69% of women in the UK, the US, and Morocco have experienced sexual harassment. The number for France is higher, at 70-79%, and in Spain, 50-59% have been harassed. The #Metoo movement also proves that this is a global issue.
Why is it worse if the harasser is Morrocan?
Sara Pascoe is not alone in her strange, and aberrational, statements about Morocco. For example, my sister recently proposed a girls trip to Morocco, but her friends rejected the idea out of hand. They, like comedian Pascoe, had decided that, because they are Western women, the Moroccan men would not leave them alone.
Trawling through Trip Advisor and the Lonely Planet, I found countless posts about sexual harassment from “disgusting” Moroccan men.
Personally I do not find that harassment in Morocco is much worse than in any other country. I did, however, experience some harassment in Casablanca but was always defended by male bystanders. To be fair, I also know plenty of Moroccan men who insects would be pleased to land on and who are extremely respectful to women.
Wanting to get more perspective on the matter, I asked some of my female friends who have visited me here whether they thought harassment was particularly bad for tourists in Morocco. The responses were mixed, but Marakech got a very bad press.
Anna, 32, a very tall, blond, and extremely English-looking woman, said that she had absolutely no problems in Essaouira and felt entirely safe and relaxed.
However, she recounted her experience of being “hissed at” and asked “Why don’t you want to be my girlfriend?” while looking for a pharmacy in Marrakech. She added that it was “irritating” rather than “intimidating.” Anna’s unpleasant experience in Marrakech happened before I moved to Morocco, and it did not stop her from visiting again. She understood that one experience in one city does not define an entire nation.
Meanwhile, Kerry, 29, from Edinburgh, who freely admits that she stands out as a “very tall, pale British woman in western dress,” said that she never felt “unsafe or threatened.” She said that sometimes she was looked at but did not think it was “creepy.” People just seemed “curious.”
Kerry added, though, that she had expected to be harassed. “I’ve heard bad stories about Marrakech from other European travelers.” However, having heard these reports, she came with an open mind. She has visited Morocco twice and is planning a third trip this coming spring.
Thomasin, 30, had an entirely positive experience. She said, “Essaouira is one of my favorite cities I have visited as a tourist, I felt really safe because there were a lot of women in the streets.”
I asked her about the markets, which are supposedly “notorious” for harassment. “The salespeople left me alone and didn’t badger me and I didn’t feel stared at like I have in some European countries. Obviously I’m always wary as a traveler, but I loved Morocco. Wasn’t sure about the hammam though.”
Thomasin added she had felt harassed in Rome, to the point that she did not enjoy it. “Tourist heavy cities are often a different kettle of fish than other places in the same country, and you can’t really make judgments about a place based on that.”
Let’s look at the facts
A UK government report published in 2018 states: “Sexual harassment pervades the lives of women and girls and is deeply ingrained in our culture.” The report goes on to say that sexual harassment in the UK is “a routine and sometimes relentless experience for women and girls, many of whom first experience it at a young age.” I have never heard or seen advice not to visit the UK because of sexual harassment.
Stop Street Harassment, a US NGO, released a report in 2017 which states that 81% of women in the US have been sexually harassed in some form. Have you ever been told not to visit the US because of sexual harassment?
Statistics from Morocco’s National Observatory show that 73% of women in Morocco have experienced sexual harassment in public spaces. There is no denying that it is a high number, but it is no higher than the percentages in the UK, or the US. But apparently, even for liberal, politically-correct minded people, this means that all Moroccan men, in all Moroccan cities, are disrespectful, sexually aggressive, and “disgusting.”
Everyone’s experience is different and valid, but it does not give anyone the right to generalize about an entire male population.
While sexual harassment in any form is a serious global issue, and one Morocco desperately needs to address, I cannot help but feel that there is a certain level of unconscious racism in the generalizations circulating about Moroccan men. I am also surprised and disappointed that people like Pascoe, who pride themselves on their intersectionality and liberal views, cannot seem to see the double standard.
Rabat – The Spanish Ministry of Interior has decorated the head of Morocco’s General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) and General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST), Abdellatif Hammouchi.
On Monday, September 23 the Spanish official gazette announced that Royal Decree 549/2019 of September 20 granted the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Civil Guard to Hammouchi.
Hammmouchi is one of the leading figures in Morocco’s security system. The head of DGSN and DGST positioned himself as one of the masterminds of Morocco’s successful anti-terrorism mechanism.
He has been largely credited with the effectiveness of Morocco’s security apparatus, and the Order of Merit recognition from Spain is the latest in a long series of international validations the Moroccan officer has received in recent years.
A solid reputation
Earlier this year, pan-African magazine Jeune Afrique joined several international publications in extolling the role of Hammouchi’s strong reputation for Morocco’s security stability.
The magazine listed Hammouchi among “Africa’s most influential personalities in 2019.”
Hammouchi and the names on the list, according to Jeune Afrique are “people who are impacting public opinion, and are capable of inspiring and inciting us to imitate them.”
Jeune Afrique added that his African and European colleagues lauded his wok on counter-terrorism and other aspects of Morocco’s domestic security.
The African newspaper also referred to Hammouchi as the nightmare of terrorists.
Jeune Afrique is one of several other international outlets that have praised Hammouchi’s leadership in the security system.
Last year in July, Italian newspaper II Post described Hammouchi as the “super agent who never sleeps.”
The Italian paper described Hammouchi as “powerful, respected, and controversial.” He is almost like “a movie character,” it added.
In 2018, Spanish news outlet El Pais also paid tribute to Hammouchi’s “contributions to maintaining national security” in Morocco.
The Spanish official gazette also shared royal decree 550/2019 stipulating that the Commander in Chief of Morocco’s Royal Gendarmerie, Mohammed Haramou, also received the Order of Merit of the Civil Guard.
King Mohammed VI appointed Haramou as the head of Morocco’s Royal Gendarmerie in December 2017.
Rabat – Grand Duke of Luxembourg Prince Guillaume and his wife Princess Stephanie de Lannoy arrived in Morocco on Sunday, September 22.
The duke and duchess came along with a high-level economic mission from Luxembourg for a three-day visit from September 23-26.
Morocco’s Minister of Finance and Economy Mohamed Benchaaboun greeted the couple upon their arrival at the Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca.
The delegation is headed by Etienne Schneider, who is both Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Luxembourg.
The high-level economic mission includes representatives of around 50 companies, suggesting a shared willingness to push for further economic ties between Rabat and Luxembourg.
In addition to the Hereditary Grand duke and duchess, several other royal families visited Morocco this year, including King Felipe VI of Spain and his wife Queen Letizia, who arrived in an official visit to Morocco in February.
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle also visited Morocco in February.
Rabat – The 12th Fez Festival of Sufi Culture will take place from October 19 to 26, 2019. The Fez Festival of Sufi Culture aims to honor all things Sufi and “to make Moroccans discover or rediscover a culture that is theirs and offer them access to this artistic, intellectual and spiritual wealth.”
Sufism is a mystical Islamic belief and practice in which Muslims seek to find the truth of divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God.
The festival, which has been held under the patronage of King Mohammed VI since its first appearance in 2007, will follow the theme “Sufi culture, a spiritual humanism for our time” this year.
The combination of spiritualism and humanism, a movement typically associated with Western atheism may seem strange to some, a statement from the festival points out.
However, Faouzi Skali, the president of the festival, believes that “the unforeseen relationship between the two can indeed be fruitful at a time when religions also know the excesses of a desiccating formalism that comes to deny the most obvious values of our humanity.”
“It is the conjunction between these two dimensions that we would like to address during the festival through the culture of Sufism,” said Skali.
Opening weekend of the Fez Festival of Sufi Culture
As well as having a particularly interesting theme this year, the festival is offering a jam-packed program this October. The first day of the festival, Saturday, October 19, will kick off with a conference and the official opening ceremony at the Salle de Prefecture in the Fez medina.
Following that is performances from a variety of international singers: French-Moroccan Francoise Atlan, Spanish flamenco singer Curro Pinana, Moroccan singer Marouane Hajji, and the Moroccan ensemble Al Shushtari. Moroccan Sufi singer Mostafa Amri will finish off the night.
Day 2, Sunday, October 20, promises plenty of intellectual stimulation to get the brain going. The day will start early with a roundtable discussion of this year’s theme at the Merdesa Bouananiya.
Afterwards will be a private showing and meet and greet with artist Sami-Ali and then a musical and poetic performance from Amal Ayouch. Sami-Ali will then be present at another roundtable. Organizers have not yet determined the location of both the private show and roundtable.
A week full of musical performances and intellectual stimulation
Monday, October 21, promises yet more treats for anyone interested in Sufi culture. The day will start with a roundtable discussing how Sufi culture can revive the spirit of Fez, often referred to as Morocco’s cultural and spiritual capital.
Later that afternoon, another roundtable will cover an equally fascinating topic: Societal and spiritual challenges in the face of transhumanism. Both roundtables will again be at the Bouananiya Medersa.
The day will end on a musical note, with a performance from Moroccan Sufi singer Tariqa Sharqawiya at Fez’s famous Jnan Sbil Park.
The next day, Tuesday, October 22, will begin with a roundtable on “the practice of
non-violence in daily life.”
Following that will be a tour of Fez’s historical sites, in order to learn about the city’s great spiritual history. The day will end with a performance from Sufi singer Tariqa Rissouniya at Jnan Sbil Park.
Day 5 of the festival, Wednesday, October 23, will kick off with another roundtable, this time on the relation between Islam and human rights. That evening, attendees will experience a poetic and musical Azzedine concert at the Glaoui Palace.
The next day, Thursday, October 24, will begin with a roundtable on the spiritual interpretation of the Qur’an according to Ibn Ajiba. A musical performance will follow from Leili Anvar and Farzaneh Joorabchi at the French Institute, who will be debuting their act “The Tales of the Persian Sages.”
Following that will be a performance from Tariqa Sqalliya and Tariqa Halvetiya Ussakiya at Jnan Sbil Park.
A closing weekend well worth attending
Day 7 of the festival, Friday, October 25, promises an especially packed program. The day will begin with a roundtable on the subject of prayer, followed by a conference from Leili Anvar on “The musk of secrets: perfume and desire in Persian poetry.”
After that will be a master class and workshop with master perfumer Abderezzak Benchaabane, location yet to be determined, and a performance from Tariqa Wazzaniya at Jnan Sbil Park.
The eighth and final day of the festival, Saturday, October 26, will be equally packed full of enticing events. The day will begin with a particularly important roundtable, discussing the creation of a platform for Sufi culture.
Then, that evening, the festival will finish with a bang with a well-crafted closing ceremony. The ceremony will focus on “The Secret Language of Flowers and Perfumes,” with performances from Moroccan singer Fatima-Zohra Qortobi, Iranian singer Farzaneh Joorabchi, and Turkish singer Ferhat Oguz Korc.
A full pass to the eclectic festival is available for purchase online for MAD 1,000. Other ticket options are available if you only wish to attend specific events.
Rabat – Morocco’s Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan attended the King Mohammed VI Grand Prix on Sunday, September 22, and presented medals to the winners of the show jumping competition.
The 20 competitions of the Grand Prix began Friday, September 20, and took place at the Temara Royal Cavalry School, according to state-owned news agency Maghreb Arab Press (MAP). The equestrian competition, which includes races for cadets, juniors, seniors, and amateurs, was the third King Mohammed VI Grand Prix.
Equestrian Ghali Boukaa won the final show jumping competition for seniors on the horse Ugolino Du Clos. His time was 46.95 seconds. Boukaa also won the show last year, on the horse “Cool Running.”
Moulay El Hassan awarded Boukaa the gold medal, MAP reported, and presented medals to the four runners up: Vincent Zacharias Bourguignon, Abdelkebir Ouaddar, Hicham Er-Radi, and Colonel Zacaria Boubouh.
Before presenting the medals, the 16-year-old Moroccan royal reviewed a section of the Royal Guard.
Minister of Agriculture Aziz Akhannouch, Minister of Youth and Sports Rachid Talbi Alami, and the brigadier general inspector of the cavalry greeted Moulay El Hassan at his arrival.
Earlier this month, the prince visited New York with his mother, Princess Lalla Salma, and 12-year-old sister, Princess Lalla Khadija.
Moulay El Hassan often participates in official ceremonies as part of his royal duties: Welcoming dignitaries and foreign royalty; attending his father’s principal annual speeches, and occasionally presiding over events by himself, as he did at the Grand Prix.
Rabat – The case of Hajar Raissouni is starting to take larger dimensions. In an unprecedented act in Morocco, Moroccan female writers and activists Leila Slimani and Sonia Terrab published a manifesto today, September 23. The text stands in solidarity with Raissouni, while also criticizing Morocco’s penalizing out of wedlock sexual relations and abortion.
The publication aims not only to defend journalist Hajar Raissouni, arrested for having premarital sexual relations and abortion, but also to defend individual freedoms in Morocco on a larger scale.
The manifesto is directed against Article 490 of the Penal Code. The article stipulates that “… persons from opposite gender who are not legally married and have sexual relations, are punishable by one month to one year in prison.”
At the moment of writing, the manifesto has been signed by 490 Moroccans, mostly public intellectuals and women’s rights advocates, who agreed to publicly declare that they are “outlaws,” and will remain “outlaws, until the law changes.” About three quarters of the signatories are women. The invitation for Moroccans to put their names on the signees list is still open through the email: texte490@gmail.com.
“We are violating unfair and obsolete laws. We are having sex out of wedlock. We are suffering, enabling or being complicit of abortion. We learned to deal with it and pretend. But for how long?” reads the starting paragraph of the text.
Statistics are also presented in bold in the manifesto. Last year, 2018, more than 14.500 people were prosecuted under Article 490. More than 3.000 people were imprisoned for adultery. “Every day, between 600 and 800 unsafe abortions are carried out.”
The text concludes with questions aimed at sparking outrage among Moroccans, urging them to fight for individual freedom and bring about a political, social environment that ensures “progress in human development.”
“How can we promote the fulfillment of our youth, how can we illuminate the right involvement of women in our society, how can we truly engage our country towards progress in human development, if our individual freedoms are not respected, if our dignity is knocked down, if we all remain nothing but outlaws?”
Hajar Raissouni, the journalist whose case sparked this unprecedented act of public solidarity, works for Akhbar Al Yaoum, an Arabic news outlet. She was arrested on Saturday, August 31, on her way out of a doctor’s office and she is facing illegal abortion and premarital sex charges.
Police also arrested her fiance, the doctor, and his two aides for illegal abortion. All the defendants remain in custody and are awaiting their trial. The trial is planned for today, September 23, after a previous deferral.
Rabat – The University of Bordeaux (France) has returned 20 archaeological objects to Morocco’s National Institute of Archaeological Sciences and Heritage (INSAP). The objects are human bones dating back to prehistory. The remains were discovered in the archaeological site of Rouazi cemetery, in Skhirat (26 km south of Rabat), according to a press release from the Ministry of Culture and Communication.
The human bones were transferred to PACEA laboratory, at the University of Bordeaux for an in-depth study to determine their age and restore them.
The ministry also announced a partnership to be signed between France and Morocco in the domain of prehistoric archaeology. The signature is set to be on Thursday, September 26, at the INSAP.
The returned objects will help create a reference base at the INSAP for students and researchers who are interested in studying prehistoric Morocco.
As part of these efforts to make archaeology more accessible, the ministry also announced the opening of a prehistoric park in Casablanca in the coming weeks.
The archaeological site of Rouazi, where the returned bones were found, was discovered in 1979. It contains the most consistent collection of objects from the Neolithic era in Morocco.
Rabat – British travel company Thomas Cook, the world’s oldest tourism operator, shut down all its operations Monday, September 23. The shutdown follows a failed plea for private investors to provide $250 million to save it from collapse.
We are sorry to announce that Thomas Cook has ceased trading with immediate effect.
The 178-year-old company announced the shutdown in a statement today. “This marks a deeply sad day for the company which pioneered package holidays and made travel possible for millions of people around the world,” said the statement.
“Despite considerable efforts, those discussions have not resulted in an agreement between the company’s stakeholders and proposed new money providers,” the statement continued, referencing its plea to investors.
“The company’s board has therefore concluded that it had no choice but to take steps to enter into compulsory liquidation with immediate effect.”
The collapse of the company comes due to fierce competition from competitively priced travel websites, resulting in a loss of £1.5 billion in the first half of 2019.
An estimated 22,000 people will lose their jobs, only 9,000 of whom are British.
The shutdown will disrupt flights and services for tens of thousands of tourists, leading the UK to launch its biggest repatriation effort since World War II to bring back stranded passengers.
The government has hired planes to fly home an estimated 150,000 tourists back to the UK, in an operation starting today codenamed “Operation Matterhorn.” The operation will involve planes chartered from other airlines including British Airways and EasyJet.
The operation will cost the UK government $746 million. Many commentators on social media have pointed out that the cost is significantly more than the $250 million it would have cost to bail the tourism group out and prevent its collapse.
How will the shutdown affect Morocco and surrounding countries?
The effects of the shutdown will spread far beyond just the UK and instantly caused a ripple of worry throughout North Africa, as Tunisia, Morocco, and Egypt are among Thomas Cook’s top travel destinations.
The UK government will be repatriating the tourists currently in Morocco from September 25 to October 5 in a 4-part process.
British tourists in Morocco aside, the shutdown will also affect Morocco’s tourism industry and businesses. Moroccan tourism authorities have already created a crisis unit to manage the negative effects of the shutdown.
The shutdown also leaves dozens of hotels with unpaid bills from Thomas Cook. Experts in the industry told Le Matin an estimate 60-80 hotels will be affected, most of them in Marrakech and Agadir.
The crisis team comprises representatives from Morocco’s Ministry of Tourism, the hotel industry, travel agents, and Morocco’s National Office of Tourism. The goal is to work closely with British authorities to monitor and supervise the repatriation of Thomas Cook customers back to the UK.
The crisis unit immediately held a meeting, chaired by Abdellatif Kabbaj, president of the National Confederation of Tourism and also CEO of the Kenzi Hotels Group.
In Tunisia, where Thomas Cook was sending 150,000 tourists annually, the hotel industry is expecting a loss of €60 million. However, in comparison, Morocco was receiving only 70,000 tourists annually, and Kabbaj reassured the industry that the loss will be far less in Morocco, although he did not give an exact number.
Rabat – Education Minister Said Amzazi announced, at a press conference held on September 20, that a teacher was suspended and will appear before a Disciplinary Committee.
The teacher had posted a video depicting the deplorable state of a public school in Sidi Kacem (31 kilometers east of Rabat).
The teacher posted the video, widely shared on social networks, to urge officials to take action against the derelict infrastructure at her school and Morocco’s crumbling public education in general.
While several Internet users admired the teacher’s move, the Minister of Education, Said Amzazi considered the teacher’s behavior “inappropriate”.
Amzazi argued that the teacher’s actions only seek to tarnish the image of the ministry and its efforts to improve the country’s school infrastructure.
The minister explained that the school in the video has undergone a number of renovation works recently.
Amzazi also denied the authenticity of several photos and videos shared on social networks and showing the state of a number of squalid schools in the kingdom. He said the pictures and videos were “unfounded” and shot in another country.
Several Moroccan teachers expressed solidarity with their colleague. Internet users launched a campaign under the slogan, “Sharing the truth is not a crime.” Others are also planning a sit-in.
Rabat – My college semester living with a Moroccan host family taught me much that I would have never learned otherwise.
It taught me how to bond with people despite a language barrier, how to communicate with only facial expressions and awkward noises, how to live out of a suitcase, and above all, how to leave my comfort zone—and embrace being uncomfortable.
These are all fairly cliché, of course, as are most study abroad life-lessons.
The most important thing I learned from my host family, though, was not how to break down cultural barriers and unearth our innate similarities as humans. Rather, the most valuable lesson I gained from my host family was how profoundly different we are; not only in terms of religion or values, but in terms of environmental sustainability—as obscure as that may sound.
I had always considered myself to be environmentally conscious. But after just one day with my host family, I became acutely aware of how much trash I was producing on a daily basis as an individual—and how little they produced as an entire family unit.
So little, in fact, that they didn’t even have a regular trash can. They had a single small bucket, about the size of a garbage bin you’d find in a private restroom, for food waste and the occasional plastic wrapper or scrap of paper.
Meanwhile, I was hoarding used makeup remover wipes, tissues, cotton balls, Q-tips, plastic dental floss picks, feminine hygiene products, and the plastic cases of my single-use contact lenses in my backpack until I could throw them away at school.
This personal inconvenience catalyzed a slew of observations of what I believe to be the everyday sustainable practices and customs of Moroccans that are overshadowed by the country’s poor waste management system.
An eco-friendly way of life
Living with my host family inspired me to rethink my water usage. After my host mom told me that each member of my host family only bathes once a week, I was not comfortable showering regularly at the apartment. She made it clear that I could shower however often I needed, but I simply did not want to disproportionately use up the family’s resources.
I showered at the apartment once a week and went to the hammam, or public bath, two or three times a week. As someone who used to take long showers every day in the US, sometimes multiple times a day, this new bathing schedule made a noticeable change in my water consumption.
I did not learn to appreciate the ingenuity of the Turkish toilet until very recently, when I went to Sefrou to visit my Moroccan husband’s aunts. The western toilet at their house was broken, and I had to manually fill the basin every time I wanted to flush. I was appalled when I realized exactly how much water is needed to flush a western toilet, and how comparatively little is needed to flush a Turkish toilet.
The souk is another site of Moroccan sustainability.
Although plastic has unfortunately become more common among vendors, most shoppers seem to prefer their large and sturdy reusable bags. Shopping in the souk also means buying fresh and unpackaged fruits, vegetables, and meats. Even grains and spices are not standarly packaged.
Souk shopping, while not completely environmentally friendly, ultimately reduces the need for plastic bags and food packaging that would end up in landfills or at local dumping grounds.
The souk is also home to an unofficial recycling system. Plastic water bottles and jugs are repurposed to store and sell household cleaners, soap, oil, juice, honey, milk, and sauces. Discarded papers end up in hanouts where they are used to package small servings of nuts, dried fruits, candies, and spices.
Unwanted kitchen appliances, clothes, shoes, accessories, home decor, and electronics are collected and resold in Moroccan markets. You can find almost anything in the souk, and many of these goods are passed from owner to owner until they are no longer usable.
These systems are in place all over Morocco. No matter how small scale they may be, they make an impact and deserve to be spotlighted.
Perceptions of Morocco’s pollution
While many Moroccans unknowingly engage in recycling and other environmentally-friendly practices, the country’s official waste management system leaves much to be desired.
I won’t sugarcoat it: There’s trash everywhere.
This presents a constant burden to locals, and it’s also unsurprisingly one of the first things Western tourists notice upon arriving in the country.
Travel blogger Allane Milliane pulls no punches when describing Morocco: “It’s dirty and lacks hygiene,” she says.
“Papers, plastic, dead rats and pieces of dead animals such as chicken heads, flies everywhere, feces (both human and animal), and trash, lots of trash, I mean plastic bags filled with trash just sitting in the middle of the streets,” she writes of the sights to behold in Marrakech and Chefchaouen.
“On the road you will see trash everywhere, even in the desert and near beautiful waterfalls, to my disappointment,” she says of the Moroccan countryside.
“Can you blame it on the lack of education of the locals because Morocco is a poor country? Probably yes, but it’s hard to understand that the same locals that rely on tourism so much, are so careless with the environment. It’s simply sad.”
While the same observations can be made of great cities in the West (looking at you, NYC), Milliane makes a logical but shallow argument.
Of course many Moroccans are careless with their waste, and it’s easy to blame this behavior on poverty and ignorance. But when you no longer have the perspective of an outsider, things become abundantly clear.
It’s simple, actually. While it’s true that the general Moroccan public is not educated about proper waste management, trash piles up in public spaces because there are very few ways to appropriately dispose of garbage.
Public disposal sites: Few and far between
You can scold a Moroccan child for mindlessly dropping his candy wrapper on the ground, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a suitable public garbage bin where he can properly dispose of his trash.
I will be the first to admit that I once judged my Moroccan neighbors for polluting the lush gardens of my apartment complex just outside of Rabat. But I quickly realized that comparing the sanitary standards of my small American hometown to those of my new urban dwelling was unproductive.
Picture a typical suburban American neighborhood. It’s trash night, and each household has put their two 96-gallon bins—one for recycling, one for the landfill—at the curb.
Single-household recycling and garbage bins in the US state of Pennsylvania. These are emptied once a week by a private waste disposal company. Photo Credit: Morgan Hekking/ Morocco World News
By 9AM the following morning, the bins will be empty, their contents whisked away to the proper sorting and disposal facilities; or, more likely, shipped off to the developing world to become someone else’s problem. Out of sight, out of mind.
Single-household recycling and garbage bins in the US state of Pennsylvania. These are emptied once a week by a private waste disposal company.
Now imagine an old Moroccan medina. Have you ever seen two 96-gallon garbage bins perched beside any of those gorgeous residential doors, waiting to be emptied to make room for next week’s waste?
No, you haven’t.
What about outside the medinas, in the newer neighborhoods composed primarily of apartment buildings? Does each household have those 96-gallon garbage bins?
Well, of course not! They live in apartments! Surely each complex has a communal dumpster!
Wrong again.
Apartment complexes do not have their own dumpsters, but most neighborhoods do. However, these dumpsters are pitiful, to say the least. They’re small, constantly overflowing, foul-smelling, and horrible to look at.
Communal dumpsters in Hassan, Rabat. Photo Credit: Morgan Hekking/ Morocco World News
The worst thing about these dumpsters is that they are often inaccessible to most residents of any given neighborhood, especially in lower-income areas. Usually you can only find them every few blocks, and sometimes not at all.
Who wants to go on a ten minute walk just to take the trash out? Especially when the dumpster is probably full and you’ll just end up emptying your trash onto the ground next to it? Not me.
A more practical option for some, it seems, is to dump household waste wherever there’s space, even if this means polluting the area around one’s own residence. Some might assume that the trash will be collected eventually. This is true in some places, like medinas and busy neighborhoods. Most of the time, though, the garbage is left to fester.
Dumpsters in Témara. Photo Credit: Morgan Hekking-/ Morocco World News
According to the World Bank’s latest analysis of trends in solid waste management, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), as a region, produces the least of the world’s waste at just 6%. More than half of this waste is organic matter.
However, the problem with Morocco, like most lower-income countries, lies in its dumping methods.
While middle- and high-income countries dump most of their waste in landfills, the lower-income MENA countries dump more than half of their waste out in the open.
Unfortunately, this is why Morocco’s everyday sustainability goes largely unnoticed. The public trash problem is only exacerbated by careless individual behavior, which earns Morocco a pretty nasty reputation.
Morocco: Greener than meets the eye
I’m well aware that some (or perhaps many) of the aforementioned eco-friendly practices are simply features of poverty and economic underdevelopment. I’m also aware that the lifestyle I’ve described doesn’t apply to every single Moroccan.
However, since moving to Morocco, I’ve noticed a drastic change in my own water, gas, and electricity consumption; waste production; and use of plastic. This has not transpired through conscious choice but rather by adjusting to a stark change in lifestyle.
I now rely entirely on walking or public transportation to get around.
I shower once every other day rather than twice a day, and I only turn on the water heater when completely necessary.
I’m more careful about turning lights off and unplugging electronics.
I hang worn clothes in the sun to eliminate odor and bacteria rather than washing them after each use, and I dry my laundry in the window instead of using a machine.
I no longer drink beverages from paper or plastic cups. Instead, I enjoy coffee and juice in glasses even when I’m on the go.
The best sugar cane and lime juice in Témara.
Most of my food comes fresh from the souk, where I’ve also bought a used iPhone, clothes, home decor, and kitchen appliances.
I now have a four-gallon trash can in my kitchen, which my husband empties two or three times a week. My bathroom trash can is half the size, and gets emptied once every two weeks.
This means that my husband and I produce less than 15 gallons of household waste—most of it organic—every week.
At my college apartment in upstate New York, my roommate and I produced more than 15 gallons of waste—most of it paper or plastic—every two days.
My new Moroccan lifestyle is certainly not perfectly green, but it is a vast improvement from my wasteful habits at college and at my home in the Pennsylvanian suburbs.
However, Moroccans still have a long way to go in terms of individual sustainability.
Moroccan households used about 25 billion plastic bags in 2016, making the kingdom the second largest consumer of plastic bags in the world. And although the Zero Mika initiative has been working to rid Morocco of plastic bags, the kingdom still has a visible trash problem.
Despite this, I don’t believe that the country’s littered streets and waterways accurately reflect the everyday sustainability that I’ve seen and experienced while living here.
There is more to Morocco’s trash problem than meets the eye. We should reserve our judgement for the structural flaws in the country’s waste management, learn to appreciate the small-scale sustainability, and support the initiatives that will create a cleaner Morocco.
Rabat – The High Representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAO), Miguel Angel Moratinos, is full of gratitude to Morocco for hosting the Global Summit of the 2020 Alliance of Civilizations.
The former Spanish foreign minister held talks with Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita on Sunday, September 22 in New York on the sidelines of the UN Climate summit.
“ I am grateful to the King [Mohammed VI] and Morocco for the confidence they have placed in the Alliance of Civilizations to hold this summit in the kingdom next year,” Moratinos told the press after his meeting with Bourita.
Initiated in 2005, the UN Alliance of Civilizations seeks to promote intercultural relations across the world.
Moratinos said that the major summit will not only focus on relations between the countries of the Arab and Muslim World and the West but “also Africa and Latin America.”
The UN representative also said that his talks with Bourita touched on “Morocco’s excellent relations with the Alliance.”
“We are working on all issues, including the prevention, mediation, and the fight against terrorism,” he said.
This is not Moratinos’s first positive comment on Morocco’s role in promoting interfaith dialogue and intercultural connections.
Amid Pope Francis’s visit to Morocco in late March, the Spanish diplomat lauded Morocco’s efforts in fighting against religious intolerance. The comment comes after the visit of Pope Francis o Morocco at the end of the month of March.
Moratinos described the trip as “historic” and a reflection of Morocco’s King’s commitment to interfaith dialogue and the peaceful cohabitation of different religions.
“This visit is also part of the will of two great personalities, His Holiness Pope Francis and His Majesty King Mohammed VI, who both have a roadmap to show that belonging to a religion and to a culture should not be an obstacle, but on the contrary, an element of mutual understanding and respect for each other’s part,” Moratinos said.
This morning, the influential couple visited a traditional weaving cooperative. While there, they enjoyed a traditional Moroccan breakfast of msemen (Moroccan pancakes), black olives, and Morocco’s iconic mint tea.
Just a few days ago, on September 20, the couple strolled through Marrakech’s iconic Jemaa El-Fna square, a staple for all visitors to the ochre city. They posed with a snake and later looked at traditional Moroccan wares in the souk.
Larsy hosted the bash the Clintons attended at Marrakech’s most luxurious hotel, La Mamounia. The Clintons also attended Lasry’s wedding in 2017, among a host of other celebrities.
More than 300 respected figures in finance and politics from across the world are estimated to have attended Larsy’s party. According to Moroccan outlet Les Eco, Marrakech’s security officials organized a meeting to decide how to best prepare for the event.
Marc Lasry was born in Marrakech on September 30, 1959. At the age of 7, his family immigrated to the US where Lasry later rose to success.
Lasry made his fortune as a pension and hedge fund manager. He is the CEO of Avenue Capital Group and co-owner of Michigan professional basketball team the Milwaukee Bucks.
Rabat – Morocco is hosting this year’s Solar Decathlon Africa, a global competition that the Ministry of Energy, Mines, Water, and the Environment and the Moroccan Research Institute in Solar Energy and New Energies (IRSEN) is organizing. Over 1,200 participants from over 20 countries compete to fully design and construct operational solar homes.
Ben Guerir in Morocco’s central Rehamna Province is hosting the decathlon from September 13 through 27. Throughout these weeks, a team of jurors will evaluate the participants based upon ten events. Each event accumulates up to 100 points. Whichever team scores the most points will be the winner.
Passionate students and professors of the future of solar powered houses compete under the auspices of universities from around the world.
The contest aims to conceptualize low-energy consuming buildings that reach the bid of net-zero energy and to increase reliance on renewable energies, as outlined in the competition’s mission statement. Morocco World News travelled to Ben Guerir for a first-hand impression of Solar Decathlon Africa 2019.
Weaving native hemp into design
Introduced to Morocco via the Silk Road, the hut-shaped Sunimplant is constructed largely of hemp. Throughout her career as a Germany-based architect, Monika Breummer regards hemp as a formidable building material apt for the Moroccan climate.
“We have constructed tamped hemp concrete walls. Not only is hemp well suited for the day-night cycle and subsequent differences of temperature, but because of its organic nature, we’re able to completely reconstruct the house after it has reached its durability limit. Right now this house can last up to several decades, but can be completely rebuilt out of the same materials,” as told by Breummer.
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The front of the Sunimplant house, along with an inviting porch. Photo credit: Monika Breummer.
Though it is unclear why, Breumer testifies to female architects using hemp far more often as a building material compared to male architects. Photo credit: Wouter Ijzerman / Morocco World News
With many of the houses completely finished, team members enjoy the domestic comforts by actually living in the houses themselves. Photo credit: Wouter Ijzerman / Morocco World News.
Throughout the Central Rif region, the origin of Moroccan hemp, there is more than meets the eye. Sunimplant’s interior is based on Riffian decoration, as the particular layout of the house indicates.
Though the interior may be reminiscent of the Rif, the exterior calls to mind the design of archaic African architecture, such as that in ancient Somalia.
“The exterior design of the house is taken after the huts that were constructed in archaic times, but since we are striving for a sustainable future and modern requirements, the outer layers of the hut have been equipped with solar panels that provide the house with energy.”
Per competition parameters, teams must construct the houses not only in a sustainable fashion but to appeal to inhabitants as well. Petra, the ancient southwestern city located in Jordan, inspires Neopetra design, though it caters to modern audiences.
“Since we are hoping that one day people will actually live in houses such as these, we realized we had to make them appealing and comfortable at the same time,” said Mohamed Amine El Marraki, project manager of Moroccan team Neopetra.
Appealing to modern audiences who are in search of something fresh and new does not mean abandoning Moroccan heritage. “As you can see we have decorated the entire ceiling with wood, in line with the Moroccan style referred to as atawa,” added Marraki.
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The exterior of the house. Photo credit: Wouter Ijzerman / Morocco World News.
Iconic ceilings referred to as atawa. Photo credit: / Wouter Ijzerman_ Morocco World News.
The middle of the house. Photo credit: Wouter Ijzerman / Morocco World News
Neopetra
The bedroom. Photo Credit: Wouter Ijzerman / Morocco World News.
Neopetra
The house’s design pays respect both to Moroccan architecture and to achieving a sustainable, solar-driven future. “The solar panels on the roof are facing an east-to-west position, to ensure the panels are exposed to the sun throughout the entire day,” Marraki explained.
“But a house is a place to socialize as well. This is why we have designed a place in the middle of the house, referred to as forstdar where people can meet, laugh, and make music.”
Recycle, reuse, and reinterpret
Team Bosphorus represents Turkey with their villa-like house titled Reyard. “Reyard is a play on words by which we convey the strength of our house, namely: Recycle, reuse and reinterpret,” according to project manager Esra Kiygin.
“While doing research we learned that Moroccan houses usually have an inner-yard. This is something we incorporated by connecting every individual room to the courtyard. Hence the name Reyard.”
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As project manager of team Bosphorus, Esra Kiygin explains every feature of the Reyard. Photo credit: Wouter Ijzerman / Morocco World News.
The sophisticated algae technology enables waste water to be converted into reusable energy. Photo credit: Wouter Ijzerman/ Morocco World News.
The luxurious living room. Photo credit: Wouter IJzerman / Morocco World News.
The master bedroom. Photo credit: Wouter IJzerman / Morocco World News
One of the two study rooms, alongside with seperate beds. Photo credit: Wouter IJzerman / Morocco World News.
“We have strived to go above and beyond with our design, not only incorporating solar energy but ensuring a self-sufficient, sustainable house that can be used for many years. Crucial for this approach was the use of our microalgae pond, that makes it possible for streams of waste water to be reconverted into reusable energy,” she said.
“In this way the house can operate as an independent ecosystem, not reliant on any other power source,” explained Kiygin.
Each house brings something new to the table. The team that built Interhouse wanted to ensure interaction between the inhabitant and the house.
“As you can see we have equipped each room with a smart device that can be operated by both the main computer and an app we have designed for your smartphone. By sliding my finger in a downwards position over the screen of my phone I can lower the sunscreens of the house, or with a simple tap turn on the lights,” explained team member Michael Blonsky.
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Michael Blonsky and Lucy Davis alongside with the Interhouse team, construced the American-Moroccan solar home. Photo credit: Wouter IJzerman / Morocco World News
The main hall of the house, decorated in an American-Moroccan fashion. Photo credit: Wouter IJzerman / Morocco World News
The entire house is based upon a smart grid, allowing inhabitants to control all features by using the main computer or their individual smart phone. Photo credit: Wouter Ijzerman / Morocco World News.
The riyad of the house where people can relax and enjoy each other's company. Photo credit: Wouter IJzerman / Morocco World News
Depending on whether it rains or the sun is out, the rotatable beams can be adjusted accordingly. Photo credit: Wouter Ijzerman / Morocco World News
Using technology in the house. Photo credit: Wouter Ijzerman / Morocco World News
“Being an American-Moroccan team, we designed the house in both styles. Our front porch is a great example of American architecture, and as you can see, we have constructed black tinted, see-through solar panels above the porch.”
The team also worked to create something that was both Moroccan and unique. “We anticipated that other teams would go for a typical Moroccan riyad as well, so we approached it with an ‘interactive’ angle. Depending on the weather you can adjust the rotating beams that serve as the roof to heart’s content, by the mere flick of your finger,” explained Blonsky.
The future of Morocco’s solar homes
Many team members feel confident that solar homes will be part and parcel of Moroccan society within the coming decades, but Romani Zaid, a professor at Tetouan’s National School of Architecture (ENA), expresses doubts.
“Though these houses are built with extraordinary passion and dedication by all the team members, we must not forget that there remains a big gap between the government and the industry in Morocco.”
It may be some time before solar homes will enrich Moroccan society, but trying to close the gap is part of the solar decathlon’s mission. While the solar village features the houses built by teams from all across the world, the congress hall provides team researchers with a platform to explain the progress they have made during the two-year design period.
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Romani Zaid - Professor architecture at Tetouan’s National School of Architecture (ENA). Photo credit: Wouter Ijzerman / Morocco World News
Scientists and stakeholders debate about the technical progress that has been made over the last years. Photo credit: Wouter Ijzerman / Morocco World News
Team members proudly posing. Photo credit: Wouter Ijzerman / Morocco World News
Though solar homes may still be part of a utopian future, Zaid thinks solar energy in general has a viable chance for success.
“Naturally the enormous solar plant that was built by the government near Ouarzazate remains a formidable example, but there are other bottom-up projects throughout the country as well. Due to the rising levels of air pollution, Marrakech initiated a solar bike project to encourage people to leave their polluting scooters at home and take the solar bike as a sustainable alternative.”
“But,” he concluded, “whether Morocco will embrace solar homes indefinitely is up to the Moroccan people, industry, and government.”
Rabat – Nordin Amrabat shared several posts both in Arabic and English on his Twitter to respond to rumors that he asked for a pay rise from his Saudi club Al Nassr.
On September 22, the football players expressed his satisfaction with playing for the Saudi club, emphasizing that he would play for it and for his Saudi fans for free.
“This is not true at all. I would be happy to play for Al Nasser for free to show the respect and love I have for Al Nassr fans and its board members.”
اشارة الى الشائعات المتداوله عن طلبي لزيادة المميزات الماليه والا لن العب ، هذا غير صحيح مطلقآ . تقديرآ للنصر جماهير ومجلس اداره ومن كل قلبي اقول اني اسعد واتشرف باللعب للنصر ولو بدون مقابل ولانحتاج بعد الله الا دعمكم .
He said that all that he is asking for is support.
“Do not listen to any rumors. We need only your support.”
Moroccan media outlets reported that the tweets are in response to rumors that Amrabat asked for a salary similar to what his Moroccan teammate Abderrazak Hamdallah receives from Al Nassr.
Hamdallah reportedly receives an annual salary of $9million from Al Nassr.
Amarabat earns €3 million a year.
Amrabat joined Al Nassr in July 2018 on a three-year contract.
Do not listen to any rumors . We need only your support and stay together. The players, technical staf, boardmembers and the fans.
In a recent interview, Amrabat lauded Hamdallah’s football skills. Amrabat described his teammate as a goal machine.
“Hamdallah’s strength resides in his technical qualities, his physical power, and his positional sense. This allows him to convert into goals some of the most difficult situations,” said Amrabat.
Rabat – Moroccan rapper French Montana has announced he will release his latest album, simply titled “Montana,” next month. He also teased the album’s cover and released an album trailer, both of which have already caused a stir on social media.
He shared the cover to his Instagram with the caption “You don’t have to change who you are. You can bring people into your own world,” likely alluding to the juxtaposition between his Moroccan roots and his induction into the American rap world.
The trailer and cover portray French Montana surrounded by women in burkas, wearing contrasting high-heeled red thigh boots. As the rapper probably anticipated, the choice to show burka-wearing women in a suggestive light has already got people talking.
This Album cover is definitely gonna stir up some shit. Watch out.
Some have dubbed the cover “haram” or disrespectful to Islam for the choice to “sexualise niqabis.” One user commented on Instagram calling it “deeply offensive.”
I think @FrencHMonTanA new album cover is disrespectful for the beautifull religion of Islam.
However, not all the response to the album artwork has been negative, and it has received its fair share of praise too. One headline in particular, in sharp contrast to much of the album’s reception, said French Montana was “honoring his muslim roots” with the visuals. Fans have also been receptive.
Two things that made my day 1) French Montana new album 2) French Montana new album w/ your non traditional cover #hijabae
French Montana, whose real name is Karim Kharbouch, emigrated to the US from Rabat at age 13 and has since become one of the biggest names in hip-hop. He has always been vocal about his Moroccan roots and Muslim upbringing, making it a focal point of his public image.
Last month, he used his platform as a presenter at the Video Music Awards (VMAs) to raise awareness about the plight of immigrants in the US.
While presenting the award for Best Latin video, he said he was “proud” to present the award “because as an immigrant, I feel like we are the people that make this country, and I feel like I want to be the voice.”
“These nominees — and most of them are immigrants, too — are on top of the biggest movement in music,” he added.
Rabat – Morocco’s security services continue to crackdown drug trafficking operations at the Ceuta crossing point. Customs, in collaboration with the police, most recently seized 17.5 kilograms of cannabis resin at the crossing point of Ceuta.
A source from Moroccan customs told Maghreb Arab Press (MAP) that security services aborted the smuggling of 17.5 kilograms of cannabis on Saturday, September 21 at the crossing point of Ceuta.
Police arrested the driver and his wife. The couple remains in custody for further investigation to determine the circumstances of the case.
In May, a report from Moroccan customs said that security services seized 19.2 tons of cannabis resin in 2018, 14.7 tons fewer than the number of cannabis resin seized in 2017 (33.7 tons).
Moroccan security services have carried out a series of crackdowns on cannabis trafficking recently. On September 17, police seized two tons of cannabis resin.
In Morocco’s southern province of Laayoune, Moroccan security services also seized two tons of cannabis on Tuesday, September 17.
On September 19, the wali (governor) of the judicial police Mohamed Dkhissi said that police arrested 420,348 people on charges of drug trafficking from January 1 to September 15.
“There was a similar increase in the number of people arrested [for trafficking drugs] by 50 percent, with 94,010 people arrested, including 308 foreigners, while 62,839 people were arrested in the same period last year,” he said.
Rabat – The general assembly of the Afro-Asian Federation of Insurance and Reinsurance (FAIR) has elected Morocco as president of the federation for the next two years. Morocco will be represented by Youssef Fassi Fihri, general director of the Central Reinsurance Company (SCR).
The election took place on the sidelines of the 26th FAIR Conference. The conference started yesterday, September 23, in Marrakech. Nearly 1000 officials, decision-makers, and actors from 54 countries are taking part in the conference.
The board of directors of FAIR handed over the presidency from Bahrain, in the person of Yassir Albaharna, to Morocco’s Youssef Fassi Fihri during the opening ceremony of the conference.
FAIR comprises 245 member companies from 54 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle-East. The federation uses the reinsurance pool system for the benefit of Afro-Asian companies.
The 26th FAIR Conference is organized by SCR, between September 23 and 25, under the theme “The New Economic Barriers in the Afro-Asian Insurance Markets.” Representatives of various insurance and reinsurance companies in Asia, Africa, the Middle-East, and Europe are meeting to discuss the conference’s theme through different sessions and panels.
Rabat – As Africa finds itself on the receiving end of a whirlwind of contemporary challenges, the need to spur South-South cooperation has never been this acute. Only through increased cooperation and genuine political will can Africa and the “Global South” at large meet challenges like food security and other aspects of sustainable development.
The plea, a balanced blend of alarm ringing and optimism, was made by Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, who spoke at a panel on the sidelines of the UN Climate Action Summit in New York.
Bourita addressed the promise of South-South cooperation, stressing the need for sustainable agriculture and intra-African cooperation amid anticipation of climate-caused crises expected to hit the continent in the coming years and decades if nothing is done to curb the current tide.
“Only together can we tackle the challenge of food security,” Bourita said at one point is his address. He acknowledged the optimistic winds that have been coming out of Africa over the past four of five years.
Since at least 2011, a host of African countries have jumped in the global rankings of GDP and business-friendly environments. The notable changes have significantly altered global discussions on Africa, ranging from “Africa Rising” stories in the mainstream media to suggestions that this century will be Africa’s.
Even as these changes are notable and much-needed gains for the continent, Bourita warned, the celebratory mood should not push aside the fact that most countries on the continent are still battling to provide some of the most basic necessities for their populations. “The fight against famine is one of the most ambitious goals” for the majority of African countries still struggling to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, Bourita asserted.
He went on to argue that, for all the individual ambitions and efforts in Africa and the Global South at large, the stakes of the current challenges call for strong and effective platforms of South-South cooperation. “South-South cooperation is indispensable…. Our challenge is to work together, with the support of our multilateral and bilateral partners, to free Africa of famine and poverty by tackling the root causes of the food security challenge.”
Bourita did not speak solely about Africa’s problems, however.
As is now customary in African policy and decision-making circles, the Moroccan minister inevitably mentioned the perceptible winds of change that have marked the African story in the past three to five years.
Bourita spoke at length about the recent discussions on the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) and the multiplicity of AU summits on spurring collective action on common challenges. The suggestion, according to Bourita, is that most countries across the continent are showing glimpses of genuine—and growing—commitment to collectively tackling shared challenges.
“All these challenges should not cloud the fact that Africa has all the potential it needs to turn the tide. Africa is a big continent with numerous vital forces and resources, and it can become the world’s breadbasket. Moreover, our continent is currently experiencing positive dynamics, both on the socio-economic and the governance fronts.”
Bourita concluded with the hope, widely shared by African policymakers and other, non-government advocates of the newly signed AfCFTA, that an African free trade area would “help stimulate intra-African exchanges for affordable agricultural products,” increase the disposable income of African entrepreneurs (including of local farmers), and “rekindle the food industry.”
Morocco’s south-south advocacy and African visibility
Bourita’s plea for a robust South-South cooperation and strengthened intra-African platforms comes as Morocco strives to lead the dance on both fronts. In the Global South in general, Rabat has been applauded for its visible efforts on global platforms such as transnational counterterrorism and the recently signed Global Compact on Migration.
In Africa, meanwhile, the past two years (since Rabat’s admission to the African Union in January 2017) have been marked by Morocco’s rise in prominence in African affairs. With its growing investments in the banking and telecom sectors in sub-Saharan Francophone Africa, Morocco has emerged as an indispensable trendsetter in what some observers have described as a changing, new post-colonial Africa.
Outside of French-speaking Africa, OCP Africa has been the torchbearer of Morocco’s growing continental significance.
With currently signed agreements with the governments of Rwanda, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Nigeria, among others, the Moroccan company is gradually establishing itself in the driver’s seat of African discussions about fertilizers, sound agricultural policies, and food security goals.
Just recently, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari credited Morocco with the positive developments recently undergone by Nigerian agricultural policy in general and Nigerian local farmers. President Buhari tweeted that cooperation with Morocco is vital for Nigeria’s aspirations on the agriculture and food security front.
Most significantly, perhaps, as Morocco gradually reaps the fruits of its Africa-focused, South-South promoting diplomacy, the country’s rhetoric is saturated with feelings of “African vocation” and “historic responsibility” towards the continent.
As Morocco “realizes that its future belongs in Africa,” the speaker of the Moroccan House of Representatives recently argued, the country’s “African commitment” and “pan-African vocation” have become the central pillars of its diplomacy.
Rabat – Spanish civil guard members intercepted today, September 24, 19 Moroccan irregular migrants. The group of Moroccans, including one woman, are all aged between 20 and 40. They left the settlement of Benzu, in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, on an inflatable boat. The migrants were heading to Cadiz, in the southwest of Spain, according to Spanish newspaper El Faro de Ceuta.
The intervention of the Spanish civil guard took place around 3:15 a.m. The authorities noticed a boat going towards the Iberian Peninsula. The boat was in the water for more than two hours before being intercepted.
The Spanish authorities transferred the intercepted migrants to the local Red Cross center in Ceuta. The Red Cross team members carried out medical checks on the undocumented migrants at around 4:30 a.m.
After making sure that all the intercepted migrants were in good health, the civil guard of Ceuta transferred them to the police headquarters to start the procedure of sending them back to Morocco.
The Moroccan man who owns the inflatable boat was also arrested on the same night. He will face charges of human trafficking at a Spanish court.
Moroccans and irregular migrants from throughout Africa attempt to cross the Mediterranean sea to reach Europe on a daily basis. In August, spokesperson of the Moroccan government Mustapha El Khalfi said that security services aborted 57,000 irregular migration attempts in 2019.
Joe Tasker 
