Abdel-Wahed Ouarzazi: “En Marruecos estamos pendientes de que España reconozca la marroquinidad del Sáhara”

The Moroccan economics professor, Abdel-Wahed Ouarzazi, stopped by the microphones of "De Cara al Mundo" on Onda Madrid to review the economic policy that Morocco has carried out in 2021. On the other hand, Abdel-Wahed spoke about the Moroccan diplomatic strategy designed by King Mohammed VI and the step that Spain must take to recognise the Moroccan status of the Sahara.

In Atalayar we read your article on the new Moroccan government's economic programme as if it were a new economic model. 

Yes, for the first time, Morocco's economic policy is decisively setting the social pact, i.e. for the first time there will be universal social security for Moroccans. This is something that has been long awaited in Morocco.  

In this respect, Morocco's major problem is inequality, and a change in the economic model will make it possible to overcome inequality. Morocco has made a lot of progress in terms of infrastructure, highways, high-speed rail, renewable energy, and so on. But the pending issue is inequality. 

Yes, it is an endemic problem that Morocco has been dragging along for many years, but with the structural reforms that are being carried out decisively over the next three years, society is feeling the benefits of the good progress of the economy. The middle class is widening and is now accelerating the country's economic growth. 

Has the effect of COVID-19 in Morocco been very serious, or have the measures taken by the king and the government been effective in mitigating the impact? 

Morocco has taken the pandemic and the effects of COVID-19 very seriously from the outset. The country has faced the problem from the beginning, taking on a significant cost from the outset by tightly closing the borders and strictly confining the population, and the result could not have been other than that Morocco now has the pandemic under control. Morocco is ahead of the epidemic, assuming costs that, looking at the numbers, reflect that 2021 has not gone badly because the country has been recovering the GDP level of 2019.  

With tourism, the economic boost will be definitive for the recovery of the Alawi country... 

Tourism is one of the country's sources of income, it is one of the costs that I have just mentioned that the country has assumed, but on the other hand, we can say that agri-food production has far exceeded expectations, being historical and compensating for the loss of the tourism sector. The pandemic has been terrible for this sector, but as soon as the economy recovers and Moroccan neighbouring countries control the pandemic within their borders, this sector could be reactivated, exceeding expectations in 2019, reaching 13 million visitors. The pandemic does not only depend on Morocco, but also on the surrounding countries and the countries that come to visit the country. 

2021 has been an important year for Moroccan diplomacy, especially after that tweet by former US President Donald Trump recognising Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara, will 2022 be definitive?  is it possible to think that Algeria will lend itself to negotiate and put an end to a conflict that has lasted too long and for which many Saharawis suffer in the Tindouf camps? 

The Moroccan strategy is very well designed by King Mohammed VI, and the results are very positive. 2021 has been a year of success for Moroccan diplomacy. With the latest UN Security Council resolution, it can be predicted that in 2022 there will be a flood of recognitions of the Moroccan status of the Sahara. There is no turning back now, and Algeria, our neighbouring country, must read the international trend on this issue and sit down to make peace with its neighbour. Morocco wants nothing but peace and prosperity for the Maghreb region.  

Do you hope that the European Union and Spain will take this step, contributing to the United Nations to bring about these negotiations and put an end to the conflict? 

Yes, the truth is that in Morocco we are very much hoping that Spain, our neighbour and second-largest country, will take this step forward, as France and more recently Germany did a few years ago, when they were able to read the geopolitics ahead and recognised the resolution of the Moroccan proposal for sovereignty over its southern provinces. We Moroccans are much more interested in the position that Spain can adopt than that of other countries because we are neighbours and cousins, and although we have different religions, we are united by many more things than separate us. Spain has to take that step forward.