Don't miss
- Washington “follows with interest” Morocco’s openness onto Africa (John Kerry)Posted 11 years ago
- The trial of South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius opened in Pretoria on Monday.Posted 11 years ago
- USA welcomes efforts of King Mohammed VI in MaliPosted 11 years ago
- Egypt’s population reaches 94 millionPosted 11 years ago
- Mugabe celebrates his 90thPosted 11 years ago
- Moroccan Monarch to Build a Perinatal Clinic in BamakoPosted 11 years ago
- King Mohammed VI handed a donation of bovine semen for the benefit of Malian breeders.Posted 11 years ago
- Moroccan King’s strategic tour to Africa: Strengthening the will of pan African Solidarity and stimulating the south-south cooperation mechanisms over the continentPosted 12 years ago
- Senior al-Qaida leader killed in AlgeriaPosted 12 years ago
- Libya: The trial of former Prime Minister al-Baghdadi AliPosted 12 years ago
King Mohammed VI to Chair a Royal Dinner in Addis Ababa
By African Bulletin on January 29, 2017
King Mohammed VI will reportedly chair a royal dinner in the presence of African leaders on Sunday night.
Ahead of their Monday closed doors meeting, being held at the mid-point of the African Union (AU) summit, currently taking place in Addis Ababa. The African leaders have reportedly received invitations to attend the royal dinner.
Monday’s off-the-record deliberation is set to discuss Morocco’s bid to return to the pan-African organization. The election of the successor to outgoing South African Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for the presidency of the Commission of the African Union (AU), will also be discussed.
The royal dinner is considered an important diplomatic move for Morocco in its bid to regain its position in the AU, after Morocco’s late King Hassan II decided to withdraw. The reason for Morocco’s withdrawal was the pan-African organization’s public acceptance of the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) as a full-fledged member state.
Over the past six months, King Mohammed VI has paid visits to several countries including Nigeria, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Madagascar to solicit support for Morocco’s return to the AU.
Several African countries later publicly encouraged Morocco’s return to the AU. Last November, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Madagascar each expressed their countries’ commitment to supporting Morocco’s return to the AU.
Cape Verde, the Central African Republic and Burundi voiced their support for the return of Morocco to the AU earlier this week, in Addis Ababa.
In early January, during a meeting of the House of Representatives’ committee, Morocco’s Foreign Affairs and Cooperation minister, Salaheddine Mezouar, said that, “40 countries are supporting Morocco’s return to the AU,” noting that “Morocco has reached the needed quorum, which is 28 countries as it is stipulated in the Constitutive Act of the AU.”