Address by King Mohammed before the Africa-Europe Summit
Morocco-Regional-Africa, Politics, 4/4/2000

King Mohammed VI made an address Monday in Cairo before the Africa- Europe Summit meeting in Cairo.

Here follows a translation of the royal address:

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

First and foremost, it gives me great pleasure to congratulate our fellow African nations and the members of the European Union on taking the initiative to hold this Summit meeting, which is likely to set the stage for a new approach to international relations, based on dialogue, consultation and solidarity.

I should also like to compliment the Arab Republic of Egypt on hosting this Summit and on the excellent arrangements provided to ensure its success.

This Summit meeting of UE member states and African countries has special significance at the start of the third millennium, a millennium in which African countries look forward, with immense hopes, to effective solutions to their distressing conditions, so that their peoples may be reassured about their future, like the other peoples in the world at large.

The African continent, owing to several problems and circumstances, has suffered from a marginalization that made it lag behind in the march towards global development. This situation gave rise to a feeling of frustration among African generations. Indeed, many obstacles still impede the development and renaissance of Africa. There is a major deficit in terms of basic infrastructure, and this has had a direct impact on economic development, without which there can be no development in other sectors.

Although it has a population of over 700 million people, our continent receives merely 2% of international investment. Moreover, Africa accounts for three-fourths of the least developed countries in the globe, and two thirds of the world's landlocked countries. In addition, most African countries are plagued by natural disasters, such as drought and desertification. 69% of the world's HIV-infected population are located in Africa, and 45 million African children are deprived of schooling. Similarly, the African continent suffers from the biggest shortage of food production in the world, and as a result, the specter of starvation looms large in many countries, in addition to a serious spread of epidemics and deadly diseases. All of those factors hamper any prospects for sustainable human development.

In order for Africa to free itself from this situation, it has become necessary to reconsider all previous approaches which have, in fact, shown their limits, not to say their failure and their inadequacy with realities.

Today, we are duty-bound to ponder together, as from this Summit meeting, on new approaches and mechanisms which would form the groundwork for a major and ambitious plan aimed at helping Africa emerge from its current predicament. The starting point of such a plan should be an all-out war against poverty and the creation of a suitable environment for the constructive interplay of African and international efforts in general, and European ones in particular. The aim is to set the stage for a new phase towards the development of a natural partnership between the two groups, for they have all the cultural, geographic and economic requisites to achieve successful and sustainable development for all.

The current conditions are favorable. Indeed, growth rates are on the rise in Europe, while Africa is experiencing a shortage in terms of basic facilities and infrastructure. The convergence between European capabilities and African needs and potential is achievable, provided Europe adopts a new strategic approach towards the African continent that benefits the interests of both Europe and Africa.

We should recall, at this juncture, the ambitious project proposed by Our Late Father, His Majesty King Hassan II, may His Soul rest in peace, for whom the problems and predicament of Africa were among His constant concerns. This project consists in drawing up a comprehensive plan following the pattern of the one implemented for the reconstruction of Europe after World War II.

Your Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The debt problem remains at the forefront of African concerns and constitutes a serious impediment to development. This problem requires decisive and daring political will on the part of donor countries to find the best possible solution to it, either by writing off the debt or converting debt-related interests into investments.

Just as pressing is the question of the human dimension of our continent's development. Indeed, the proper training of African human resources requires immense efforts to fight and eradicate illiteracy, to ensure general access to schooling and training, to meet the needs of food security, proper housing, health care and safe environment, and to gain access to state-of-the-art technology.

From this perspective, Africans look forward to a dynamic and effective role played by Europe, which would itself stem from our European partners' first-hand knowledge of our African realities and direct interaction with the continent's problems.

The ongoing information revolution can contribute to closing the gap between our two continents for greater mutual understanding that would serve as the foundation for balanced relations based on respect.

To effectively take up long-standing challenges, Europe is called upon to contribute to laying down serious and realistic initiatives at the level of European and international institutions. Such initiatives and interventions, however, should avoid any condition-setting pattern and take into account African specificities.

Europe, on the other hand, should rise up to the occasion and satisfy the hopes and respond to the solidarity required by the current situation, in order to provide the means needed by our continent to help it check its ever expanding crises. Such a goal is indeed, fully in line with the very objective of this conference.

Over and beyond the highly important role of the European Union, we must acknowledge the fact that the basic task of achieving sustainable development lies primarily with African countries themselves. The latter have shown, over the last few years, unmistakable determination to implement credible development policies. This determination has rekindled the spirit of solidarity which has always prevailed in inter-African relations.

Being deeply convinced of the need to foster this spirit of solidarity, and in keeping with its African convictions, Morocco is fully determined to take numerous initiatives to assist its fellow African countries. Hence, I declare from this rostrum, that We are canceling all the debts owed to Morocco by the least developed African countries, and that we are lifting all customs barriers for the goods imported from those countries.

Previous Stories:
  African - European meeting to look into Africa's debt shortly   (4/3/2000)
  King Mohammed to attend Africa - Europe summit   (4/1/2000)
  Message from Morocco's king to president of Cape Verde   (3/30/2000)

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