A conference under the theme “Morocco: Regional hub at the center of the Europe-Africa relationship” was organized on Sunday in Paris, as part of the 26th edition of the Forum Horizons Maroc (FHM), the main recruitment fair for young students. and Moroccan and foreign professionals interested in the Kingdom.
This meeting marking the closing of this forum was attended by political scientist Abdelmalek Alaoui, CEO of “Guepard Group” and author of the book “Le temps du Maroc”, Rym Sahnoun, CEO of Orange Business Services in Morocco and Youssef Hansali, Head of capital markets at Attijariwafa Bank Europe.
The conference was an opportunity for the speakers to highlight in turn the great potential available to the Kingdom allowing it to set itself up as a hub and link between its natural African extension and Europe.
On this occasion, Abdelmalek Alaoui noted that the Kingdom, the most liberal country on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, is on the way to becoming a “new power” in many fields such as the automobile, aeronautics and services. from a distance, thanks to several factors, including its political and institutional stability, its reforms and its strengths in many areas. The speaker stressed the need for Europe to emerge from its “ambiguity” in its relationship with Africa, by promoting a fair distribution of benefits, through the creation of added value in Africa and mutually beneficial investments on the continent.
He recalled in this regard that Morocco, under the enlightened leadership of King Mohammed VI, has never ceased to affirm and to demand in a clear voice a dialogue of equals between Europe and Africa, noting the importance of putting in place plans for retaining African talent on their continent while abandoning the approach of official development assistance in favor of a vision focused on in-situ investment.
According to Abdelmalek Alaoui, Morocco wants to share its experience and contribute to the development of Africa within the framework of a win-win partnership, far from any attempt to dominate.
Through history and economic exchanges, Morocco maintains a “strong” relationship with Europe, recalled the speaker, stressing that the Kingdom has the ambition to renew its bilateral relationship with the European Union “so that ‘it can best serve its position and its vision of its future’, particularly with regard to the question of its territorial integrity.
Morocco believes that its European partners must take the plunge, 15 years after the presentation of the autonomy plan for the southern provinces and after the full recognition of its territorial integrity by many countries including the United States, especially since European countries are in the process of granting wide autonomy to some of their territories, he argued.
For his part, Youssef Hansali stressed that Morocco is ahead in its ranking by the international rating agencies of major economic powers, thanks to the reforms carried out for years by the authorities, the transparency of its financial system and efficient infrastructure policies. put in place (LGV, Tanger-Med, etc.).
Underlining the important place enjoyed by the Kingdom with foreign investors, he pointed out that the effects of the Covid-19 crisis have revealed the dependence of certain countries on distant centers of influence, noting that Morocco, with its assets and its particular geographical position, is called upon to position itself in this niche.
“The latest crises have only reinforced the strategic choices made by Morocco on which it must capitalize and position itself,” he insisted.
For his part, Rym Sahnoun reported an acceleration of the digital transformation in Morocco, which was particularly accentuated in the context of the Covid-19 crisis, considering however that if most companies are in the process of transform, much remains to be done in different sectors (health, smart cities, cloud).
In his eyes, Morocco is full of trained and young talents and skills capable of contributing to accelerating this digital transformation, noting that his group has chosen Morocco for its development and for the quality of its skills and infrastructure.
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