Though the 28th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa has come and gone, one of the best highlights is the emerging plan by leaders to drive a trans-Saharan expressway that will stimulate international trade and socio-economic activities in the continent.
Already, the monarch of Morocco, Mohammed, who addressed members, pledged to avail his country’s vast mineral resources to the benefit of the continent.
He announced that Rabat was set to sign bilateral agreements with Ethiopia and Nigeria for the building of a fertilizer plant to boost agriculture production in Morocco.
The new deal is coming on the heels of the re-admittance of the country back to AU.
It would be recalled that Morocco pulled out of the union in 1984 in protest against the then Organisation of African Union’s (OAU) recognition of Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), which it claimed was under its territory.
Mohammed announced that Rabat would immediately embark on signing bilateral agreements with members of the African Union (AU) to improve investments and trade.
While maintaining that his country would benefit Africa through investments and commercialization of its minerals and gas, he disclosed that Morocco and Nigeria had developed a new regional gas pipeline connecting both countries, taking gas resources of Nigeria to Morocco, its neighbours and Europe.
The Trans-African Pipeline project will be supported through a new collaboration between Ithmar Capital, the Moroccan sovereign wealth fund, and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).
