Morocco to host conference on energy cooperation in North Africa

Morocco will probably host next February a conference on energy cooperation in North Africa.

The announcement was made in Washington on Monday by US Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson, who was briefing reporters on the ongoing preparations of the American-African ministerial conference on energy slated to be held in Tucson, Arizona, by mid-December.

The United States is endeavoring for the holding of the North African energy conference next February, Richardson said.

The US-African ministerial conference, the first of the kind, will be held under the topic "a partnership for the 21st century" and will gather ministers and executives of energy, industry and finance.

It will be held in the aftermath of the African tour President Bill Clinton undertook last year.

Richardson, who also visited Africa, underlined the promising assets of the continent and listed the energy projects his department is promoting in Ghana, South Africa and Uganda. These projects, he said, cover various fields such as solar and geothermic energy.

We have established successful partnerships with Egypt and Morocco and our partnership with Nigeria and Senegal is progressing, Richardson said.