Looking To The Future: African nations opening consulates in the Moroccan Sahara is a positive step for the continent

Times of India
Rudroneel Ghosh in Talking Turkey | India | TOI

In a boost for Morocco’s sovereignty over the Moroccan Sahara, the African nation of the Gambia has just inaugurated a new consulate in Dakhla.

Located in the Moroccan Sahara along the Atlantic coast, Dakhla has massive potential for fisheries and tourism. In fact, on a trip to Dakhla in 2018, I saw first-hand how the Mo­roc­can state was try­ing to fa­cil­i­tate eco­nomic growth in the area. The Moroccan gov­ern­ment was al­ready in­vest­ing in an aqua­cul­ture de­vel­op­ment plan there that would in­clude 878 pro­duc­tion units and cre­ate around 3,350 di­rect jobs. I also wit­nessed tomato plan­ta­tions in the desert that could pro­vide sub­stan­tial rev­enue to those en­gaged in agri­cul­ture in the re­gion. Plus, Dakhla has great po­ten­tial for kite-surf­ing – the winds are strong but the wa­ters are rel­a­tively placid – an ac­tiv­ity that draws a sig­nif­i­cant num­ber of Eu­ro­pean tourists.

Therefore, the Gambia’s decision to open a consulate in Dakhla will certainly see the area receive greater political and economic attention. Interestingly, the move follows that of the Comoros opening its own consulate in the Saharan city of Laayoune in December. Both these moves reaffirm Morocco’s sovereignty over its Sahara provinces and reflect growing recognition of this fact among African partners. For, it will be recalled that the Moroccan Sahara was during Morocco’s colonial period hived off from Morocco and made a Spanish exclave. In fact, Morocco itself was a French protectorate till it regained full independence in 1956. However, the Moroccan Sahara continued under Spanish control till 1975. It was then that Mo­roc­can cit­i­zens un­der the lead­er­ship of then monarch King Has­san II un­der­took the Green March to re­unite this re­gion with the Mo­roc­can state.  Around 350,000 Mo­roc­can cit­i­zens with flags and copies of the Quran marched into the Moroccan Sa­hara to peace­fully undo the colo­nial in­jus­tice.

Sub­se­quently, the Madrid Ac­cords of No­vem­ber 14, 1975, di­vided the Sa­hara re­gion among Mo­rocco and Mau­ri­ta­nia. The lat­ter though re­lin­quished its claim in 1979, leav­ing only Mo­roc­co’s le­git­i­mate claims in­tact. How­ever, from the 1970s a sep­a­ratist Sahrawi group backed by Al­ge­ria called the Polis­ario Front car­ried out an armed cam­paign against the Mo­roc­can state for the es­tab­lish­ment of the Sahrawi Arab De­mo­c­ra­tic Re­pub­lic in the Mo­roc­can Sa­hara. In 1991 a UN-backed cease­fire was me­di­ated be­tween Mo­rocco and Polis­ario, lead­ing to the es­tab­lish­ment of the United Na­tions Mis­sion for the Ref­er­en­dum in West­ern Sa­hara.

But conditions for a referendum in the Sahara were never created thanks to the intransigence of the Polisario. Ultimately Morocco, which claims the Sahara on the basis of historical facts – Sahara chieftains had long pledged allegiance to the Moroccan monarch – put forward the Autonomy Plan for the Moroccan Sahara to the UN Security Council in 2007. The plan envisaged a high degree of autonomy for the Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty and has been described as credible by various international actors. But the key to the Moroccan Sahara’s success is the development of the region. In fact, Morocco wants to pitch the region as a bridge between itself and the rest of Africa. And it is in this context that the opening of consulates belonging to the Gambia and the Comoros in the Sahara assumes great significance.

For far too long certain external forces have tried to hold Morocco to ransom by keeping the Sahara issue on the boil. In that sense, there is a direct parallel between the Sahara issue and India’s Kashmir issue. In both cases certain separatist actors, with the help of another country, have tried to keep the respective regions unstable and prevent development there for their own vested interests. But Morocco is showing the way in the Sahara through regional development and smart foreign policy. It is high time that Africa leaves behind its colonial baggage – which in the case of the Sahara is being manipulated by vested interests – and looks to a future of development and mutual cooperation. And the Moroccan Sahara serving as a bridge between Morocco and the rest of Africa is a powerful symbol of a rising continent that is ready to leave past disputes behind.DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author’s own.