Kenya Wants to Open Diplomatic Mission in Morocco
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Hashim Sheikh
- . December 13, 2023
- . Update: December 14, 2023 2:14 pm
Kenya wants to start a new chapter with Morocco, by putting aside their differences, and mending diplomatic relations. The east African country wants to open its diplomatic mission in the Kingdom of Morocco.
Last year, Kenyan officials had tweeted a controversial statement vowing to cancel ties with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and highlighted a long-held policy by Nairobi to support self-determination.
Then President William Ruto said in a statement that Kenya was distancing itself from acknowledging the independence of SADR, and that the country supports United Nations peace initiatives in the region. “Kenya supports the UN framework as the exclusive mechanism to find a lasting solution to the dispute over Western Sahara.”
He added that the conflict around the Sahara is only an excuse to allow Algeria to continue to squander the wealth of its people on lost causes
Kenya – Morocco Strengthen Relations
Ruto said Kenya would focus on strengthening economic ties with Morocco in developing the country. “We are accelerating relations with the Kingdom of Morocco in areas of trade, agriculture, health, tourism, energy, among others for the mutual benefit of our countries.”
Kenyan Senator Ledama Olekina said it’s important as a country to have a diplomatic mission to assist the foreign department to be able to gather intelligence about the economy of that country. He highlighted that Kenya stands to reap big from Morocco, thus the need to establish an Embassy there to unlock more benefits.
But Senator Eddy Oketch asked the Kenyan government for more clarification about the state of relations with the North African country. Senator Boni Khalwale pointed out that Morocco is the fifth-largest economy in Africa. He urged the Kenyan government to expedite the formalization of relations with Morocco. Khalwale said Kenya cannot afford to sever ties with such a vital economic partner.
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Kenya Rising African Country
Kenya has witnessed significant political and economic reforms over the past decade. It wants to draw more investments and businesses to the country, thus needs to amend relations with Morocco. In 2022, Moroccan diplomat to Kenya Abdelrazzak Lassel said the kingdom can provide significant assistance in the field of food security.
But Kenya has some major challenges given the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Kenya has lost its access to foreign capital markets because of the war in Ukraine and the cycle of global monetary tightening.
