Morocco strengthens its partnership with Cape Verde

As pointed out by the head of Moroccan diplomacy, Nasser Bourita, "Morocco is firmly convinced of the relevance of South-South cooperation, to which His Majesty King Mohammed VI never fails to devote himself and will spare no effort to support brotherly Cape Verde, with the aim of developing economic sectors and social priorities, such as health, tourism, fisheries, agriculture, the blue economy and energy transition, which are the main axes of the Strategic Plan for Sustainable Development 2022-2026."

Morocco has always had close ties with the countries of the South, especially those of sub-Saharan Africa. South-South cooperation is now the main axis of the Kingdom's foreign policy. This strengthening of cooperation at the regional and inter-regional level is shown by the many agreements Morocco has concluded with various African countries. In recent years, following the wishes of King Mohammed VI, the executive has decided to look towards Africa and has established cooperation ties with African nations in various sectors, such as trade, fisheries, transport, agriculture, training and health.

Specifically, in this second commission between Cape Verde and Morocco, nine agreements have been signed on different topics: 

• Agreement for the reciprocal promotion and protection of investments in order to strengthen investments in both countries. 
• Agreement on double taxation and tax evasion to prevent tax evasion. 
• Agreement on reciprocal visa waiver to allow citizens of both countries to travel to Morocco or Cape Verde for up to 90 days without a visa. 
• Memorandum for trade cooperation to promote the exchange of information on trade and exchange of experiences. 
• Agreement on cooperation in the field of energy, also focusing on renewable energies and electricity. 
• Memorandum on Habitat and Urban Development to improve sustainable urban development policies and enhance the competitiveness of both countries through exchange of experiences. 
• Memorandum on activities linked to youth and women with the aim of creating and developing activities focused on these two groups. 
• A framework agreement on cooperation in vocational training to promote the exchange of students between the two countries. 
• Agreement on scholarships, internships and exchange of experiences in the cultural, technical and scientific fields.

Relations between the two countries began to strengthen last year with the opening of a Cape Verdean embassy in Rabat and a consulate in Dakhla in August 2022.

During the opening of the consulate, Bourita affirmed that "the fact that around 40% of African states have opened consulates in Laayoune and Dakhla reflects the general orientation within the African continent to support integrity", referring to the Western Sahara issue.

Similarly, the Cape Verdean Foreign Minister, Rui Alberto De Figueiredo Soares, explained at the time that the opening of the Consulate General of the Republic of Cape Verde in Dakhla expressed support for the Autonomy Plan presented by Morocco and the UN's efforts to find a credible and realistic solution to the Sahara dispute. 

The second Cape Verde-Morocco commission reaffirmed the support of the Cape Verdean executive for Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara. Soares praised the UN's efforts to resolve the territorial dispute in a "realistic and practical" way. He added that Cape Verde supports a long-term resolution that defends Morocco's territorial integrity and operates under the UN and referred to the opening of the consulate in Dakhla in 2022. Other European countries and the United States already support the autonomy plan presented by Morocco in 2007.