France reaffirms its commitment to invest in the Sahara
France has once again reaffirmed its commitment to invest in Western Sahara after repeatedly showing its support for Morocco's Autonomy Plan for the Sahrawi territory, which provides for the inclusion of the region within the Moroccan state framework with a high degree of self-government for the Sahrawis.
France has thus once again shown its interest in supporting the Sahrawi territory, always under Moroccan sovereignty within an autonomous system that would seek maximum regional development by granting the Sahrawis a large degree of self-government, while also expressing its intention to promote investment and development in the area.
Entretien ce jeudi de M.Nasser Bourita avec le DG de @AFD_France, M.Rémy Rioux,qui a réaffirmé l’engagement de l’AFD à mettre en œuvre les engagements pris lors de la visite en octobre 2024 au 🇲🇦du chef de l’État 🇫🇷,notamment des projets de développement dans les Provinces du Sud pic.twitter.com/sUy1Jl0hiX
— Maroc Diplomatie 🇲🇦 (@MarocDiplomatie) January 16, 2026
France has once again demonstrated its commitment to investing in and financing large-scale projects in the Moroccan Sahara, with statements by the Director General of the French Development Agency, Rémy Rioux, who confirmed in Rabat the agency's commitment to implementing the commitments made during French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to Morocco in October 2024, particularly with regard to development projects in the so-called southern provinces of Morocco.
Emmanuel Macron already showed France's clear support for Morocco's Autonomy Plan for Western Sahara during his three-day official state visit to the Moroccan kingdom at the invitation of King Mohammed VI, following the official announcement by the French state endorsing the Moroccan autonomy plan, also demonstrating France's intention to support investment and development in the Sahara.
Rémy Rioux met in Rabat with the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad, Nasser Bourita, to review the progress made in implementing the commitments made during the French Head of State's visit to Morocco, as well as the progress of several projects in the areas of railway cooperation, water and liquid sanitation, in addition to the agency's investments in Sahrawi territory.
Rémy Rioux explained the work being done on port financing through the National Ports Agency and the possibility of supporting the regional multi-service companies recently created in Dakhla and Laayoune.
‘We are currently working on the financing of ports through the National Ports Agency, as well as on the possibility of directly financing these two regions (Laayoune and Dakhla), in addition to the regional multi-service companies that were recently created to manage public facilities,’ as reported by various Moroccan media outlets such as Rue 20 Maroc.
Morocco's Autonomy Plan
In 2007, Morocco presented its Autonomy Plan for Western Sahara to the United Nations (UN), which provides for the inclusion of the territory in the Moroccan state structure, granting a large degree of self-government to the Sahrawi authorities with the aim of developing the region to its full potential in all aspects and respecting the resolutions of the United Nations.
In recent years, Morocco has received broad international backing for its proposal, with the support of more than 100 countries and major powers such as the United States, France, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and Germany, which consider the Moroccan initiative to be the most serious, credible and realistic solution to the Sahrawi dispute. In fact, United Nations Security Council Resolution 2797 of October 2024 recognised Morocco's proposal as the most solid basis for developing negotiations between the parties involved.
Opposing Morocco's position is the Polisario Front, an independence movement that advocates a referendum on self-determination for the Sahrawi people. It has less international support, including that of Algeria, Morocco's great political rival in the Maghreb.
