Mohammed VI's message to the Africa Summit for the Ocean: leadership reaffirmed
- The oceans and their geopolitical challenges
- The need for Africa to speak out on its maritime destiny
- The royal message: discursive power and reaffirmed leadership
That is why they named our planet ‘Earth’ rather than ‘Sea’, even though most of its surface is covered by oceans and seas. Throughout the history of civilisations, the opposition between land and sea has become deeply rooted in the human imagination, shaping the way people perceive their environment and their place in the world. The land, perceived as a stable space, delimited by borders and subject to political authority, embodies familiar and controlled territory, while the sea, a vast expanse in motion and without visible limits, symbolises the unknown, danger and mystery.
This dichotomy has fuelled ambivalent feelings: fascination and fear, curiosity and respect, which are reflected in myths, legends and epic tales, such as Homer's ‘Odyssey’, but also in the maritime adventures of Sinbad the Sailor in the tales of ‘One Thousand and One Nights’, which illustrate this duality where the sea is both a place of adventure and a place of danger. Furthermore, in many cultures, the sea is conceived as a parallel world, a source of life, but also of supernatural forces, reinforcing this imaginary duality between the comforting terrestrial world and the mysterious and sometimes hostile marine world. Thus, this land/sea opposition transcends simple geography to become a fundamental element in the symbolic and cultural construction of human civilisations.
The oceans and their geopolitical challenges
Throughout history, the oceans have always been the scene of power relations between nations. From ancient times to the world wars, through the empires of imperial China, the Viking expeditions, European colonisation and the Cold War, they have constantly reflected power dynamics and constituted strategic spaces of conquest for the great powers.
Today, the oceans remain the theatre of geopolitical rivalries, especially with the rise of China against US domination of the seas. These vast maritime expanses represent a real challenge in terms of wealth, first as the main corridor for international trade and the engine of globalisation, and secondly because of the fishing resources they harbour, which are essential for the food security of many populations around the world.
In addition, the ocean floor contains significant reserves of hydrocarbons and valuable minerals, essential for new technologies and the energy transition. The ocean therefore takes on a particularly strategic character, constituting a lever of power to be conquered and dominated.
This growing importance is leading to greater militarisation of maritime spaces, particularly due to the security risks amplified by the conflicts that also take place there. However, the oceans remain above all a fragile environment that must be protected.
Today, the land/sea opposition is a fundamental key to geopolitics. It structures our understanding of power rivalries, expansion strategies and forms of control over spaces. In today's world, this opposition is no longer limited to a simple dichotomy, but is imposing itself as a structuring opposition that is part of a context of transformation, even of the maritimisation of the world. Thus, the sea, long perceived as a secondary space, is becoming central to the challenges of power, security and development. This evolution is accompanied by a growing hybridisation of terrestrial and maritime logics, making contemporary geopolitics more complex and fluid than ever before.
Maritime challenges have become a major concern for the international community through several key events and conferences that aim to structure ocean governance and jointly find appropriate responses to the new challenges of globalisation, which has reinforced the importance of maritime spaces by making the seas the main routes for world trade and strategic flows (energy, submarine cables, etc.), hence the need for an international legal framework and global forums on the geopolitical, economic, security and environmental challenges related to the seas.
This growing awareness of maritime challenges, combined with significant legal and diplomatic advances, has placed the seas and oceans at the centre of the international community's concerns, both for peace and security and for sustainable development. It was in this context of climate urgency, growing pressure on the oceans and the need for strengthened international governance that the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) was held in Nice from 9 to 13 June 2025. Co-organised by France and Costa Rica, this conference brought together States, international organisations, civil society and the private sector to accelerate action for the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, with a particular focus on Sustainable Development Goal 14. The event aimed to adopt the ‘Nice Agreements’, a framework of ambitious commitments to address the environmental, economic and social challenges related to the seas and oceans.
One of the highlights of this conference was the ‘Africa for the Ocean’ summit, co-chaired by France and Morocco. This strategic summit brought together heads of state, experts and civil society actors around a common ambition: to enhance the value of ocean resources for the sustainable development of the African continent. Emphasis was placed on crucial issues such as ecological governance, sustainable management of fish stocks, protection of marine ecosystems and the search for financing for resilient infrastructure. This ‘summit within a summit’, co-chaired by Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, representative of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, and French President Emmanuel Macron, also helped strengthen regional partnerships and promote exemplary South-South cooperation, as embodied in particular by the Royal Atlantic Initiative launched by Morocco.
The opening session of the ‘Africa for the Ocean’ summit was deeply marked by the scope and strength of the message delivered by His Majesty King Mohammed VI. Through his words, the Sovereign instilled a clear and ambitious vision, placing Africa at the centre of a dynamic of sovereignty, cooperation and sustainable development of maritime spaces. His speech, imbued with gravity and hope, resonated as a solemn call for unity and collective commitment, underlining the strategic role of the oceans for the future of the continent and the urgent need to protect and value them. This Royal Message thus set the tone for a summit marked by shared responsibility and African leadership.
The message read by Princess Lalla Hasnaa at the opening of the summit is of paramount importance, standing out as a masterful text that is both powerful and visionary. With its solemn and representative tone, it embodies a strong African identity, forcefully affirming the continent's place in global ocean governance. Its relevant messages, spirit of commitment and strategic depth bear witness to an assertive leadership, both continental and international, calling for collective mobilisation around the crucial challenges of sovereignty, sustainable development and regional cooperation. This speech stands out as a major reference point, illustrating the commitment of Morocco and Africa to play a central role in building a shared and responsible maritime future.
The need for Africa to speak out on its maritime destiny
Addressing the highest African and French authorities, and after praising Emmanuel Macron's personal commitment to the oceans within the framework of bilateral and multilateral cooperation, the King emphasised the need for Africa to express itself fully on its maritime destiny, which should mark a shift towards greater strategic autonomy and an affirmation of collective sovereignty.
The speech opens with a clear and nuanced diagnosis: Africa's seas and oceans are both rich and vulnerable, strategic but under-exploited, bearers of hope but insufficiently protected. This paradox highlights the urgent need to move from a simple logic of potential to a logic of real ownership, where Africa fully asserts itself as a sovereign actor in its maritime spaces.
King Mohammed VI broadens the perspective by recalling that the ocean goes beyond the environmental dimension alone. It is also a fundamental pillar of food sovereignty, climate resilience, energy security and territorial cohesion. This integrated approach highlights the central role of the oceans in the daily lives of African populations and in the sustainable development of the continent. The strategic reinterpretation of Africa's maritime role advocated by the Royal Message is structured around three pillars:
- Blue growth
The King emphasises that the blue economy is not a luxury but a strategic necessity. He highlights promising sectors — sustainable aquaculture, offshore renewable energies, port industries, marine biotechnologies, responsible tourism — which must be conceived as value chains, with significant investment and appropriate regulations. The implementation of Morocco's national strategy, embodied by flagship port projects such as Tangier Med, illustrates this ambition.
- South-South cooperation and regional integration:
The message emphasises the collective dimension of the maritime challenge. It is not enough to share an ocean; it must be managed and defended together. The King calls for enhanced African coordination to optimise value chains, secure trade routes and ensure the equitable distribution of ocean wealth. He also stresses the need for a unified African voice on the international oceanic stage.
- Atlantic synergies for maritime effectiveness:
King Mohammed VI highlights the strategic importance of Africa's long-neglected Atlantic coastline. He presents the Atlantic African States Initiative as an innovative framework for dialogue, collective security and economic integration. This initiative also seeks to integrate the landlocked countries of the Sahel by offering them access to the sea, particularly through projects such as the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline.
The royal message: discursive power and reaffirmed leadership
The message concludes on a note of hope and collective mobilisation. The ocean is presented as a shared link and horizon, a space to be managed for peace, stability and development. The King recalls that Africa is stronger when it acts with one voice and affirms Morocco's firm commitment, with its maritime spaces, to play a leading role in this continental dynamic.
This royal vision clearly promotes the transition from a logic of mere potentiality — where African maritime resources remain largely unexplored and underestimated — to a logic of effective appropriation, based on sovereign control and the sustainable development of wealth. This paradigm shift is presented here as a strategic imperative for the continent, with a view to transforming its vast ocean spaces into real levers for economic, social and environmental development. It is not only a question of securing fishing, energy and mineral resources, but also of strengthening African capacities in maritime governance, technological innovation and regional integration. This appropriation is therefore seen as a sine qua non for Africa to fully assert its role as a maritime power and derive concrete and lasting benefits from its ocean heritage.
A political discourse in an international context could be a powerful tool for asserting leadership. It should enable leaders to position themselves clearly, inspire confidence, mobilise support and demonstrate their ability to guide and decide. The main elements that contribute to establishing strong leadership through political discourse are, first, having a clear and confident stance, expressed in a firm and assured tone that is calm and determined, reflecting mastery of the subject and confidence in one's abilities; secondly, conveying a structured and coherent message that presents precise, well-articulated and unambiguous ideas; and thirdly, clearly setting out objectives that demonstrate a clear direction, logically linking rigorous arguments that reinforce the credibility of the speech and appeal to both the reason and the heart of the audience.
Confidence, commitment, clarity of vision, mastery of the challenges, unifying language and a call to values: the message of His Majesty King Mohammed VI at the Africa for the Ocean Summit is thus distinguished by its discursive power and clear argumentative structure, combining lucid analysis, assertive ambition and concrete pragmatism. It proposes a comprehensive and integrated vision of Africa's ocean challenges, articulated around blue growth, regional cooperation and the strategic development of Atlantic spaces. By its tone, scope and concrete proposals, this speech stands out as a major reference point for African leadership in maritime governance, calling for collective mobilisation for a sustainable and sovereign future for the continent's seas and oceans.