Natural resources of the Sahara region and factual realities

By African Bulletin on November 1, 2015

By Onodera Sayumi
Morocco has always put into consideration the importance of balancing between the intelligent exploitation of natural resources and the importance to devote these later to the profit of the population and the development of the territory.
Contrary to what some of the critics claim there are more invested in the Sahara infrastructure than is gained from the current exploitation. For example, the financial resources that Morocco has allocated to the territory since 2000, has been between 1.5 and 2 billion dollars. Morocco has during this time invested in 120.000 housing projects, 900 km of roads and more than 300 million USD in water production.
To upgrade and protect the fishing resources in the region, Morocco has invested in the largest inshore port in Laâyoune, which now provides 40% of the domestic fish production and currently employs over 25.000 people.
In the other hand, all the fishing agreements signed by Morocco are totally in conformity with Vienna Convention of treaties and the Legal Council of the United Nations.
Responding to the claims of polisario and Algeria regarding the fact that Sahara has one of the richest reserves of phosphate in the world, the truth is that these reserves matches only 8 % of Morocco’s total phosphate production and 2 % of Morocco’s national reserves. In fact, The Phosphate National Company is maintaining its operation there, because it is primarily due to social reasons dictated by the need to safeguard the jobs, and livehood of 1000 families.
In order to preserve the ground water reserves in the Sahara region, Moroccan authorities had switched to alternative solution, as desalination of seawater, to provide potable water to the population. Also, Morocco had invested a lot of money in building water dams and hilly lakes.
And as a result, the population benefit from a rate connection of drinking water that reach 100%.
Concerning the energy field, Morocco has switched quickly to green energies, by implementing a 5 years program that will endow the territory of multiple solar and wind power station, as alternative for fossil fuels.
Morocco is not disposing of the resources of territory for its own good, but it is placing all economic assets in the benefit of the population of the territory.
Moreover, the Moroccan government has also launched a new model of equitable and sustainable growth for the territory, with the objective to generate wealth for the population and to promote job creation in the region, especially for youth.

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