HIBAPRESS – MAP
The Director-General of the French Development Agency, Rémy Rioux, confirmed on Thursday in Rabat the agency's commitment to implementing the commitments made during the visit of the French President, Emmanuel Macron, to Morocco in October 2024, particularly those related to development projects in the southern provinces of the Kingdom.
Rioux explained, during a press conference following his meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccan Expatriates Abroad, Nasser Bourita, that this meeting was an opportunity to assess the progress of implementing the commitments made during the French President's visit to Morocco, as well as the results of the progress of various projects in the fields of railway cooperation, water, and liquid sanitation, in addition to the agency's investments in the southern provinces of the Kingdom. After mentioning his visit last year to Laayoune and Dakhla to meet with the authorities and identify investment areas, the French official highlighted that the agency is currently working on financing ports through the National Ports Agency, and on the possibility of supporting the regional multi-service companies that were recently established in these two regions of the Kingdom. He said, “We are currently working on financing ports through the National Ports Agency, as well as on the possibility of directly financing these two regions (Laayoune and Dakhla), in addition to the regional multi-service companies that were recently created to manage public facilities.” Regarding African cooperation, Rioux explained that his discussions with Mr. Bourita focused on the determination of Morocco and France to unite their efforts for the development of the continent, "far from our bilateral cooperation, of course, by identifying topics of common interest that our companies and operators can work on together, in anticipation of the Africa-France summit (Africa Forward) expected next May in Nairobi." He pointed out that his visit to the Kingdom falls within the framework of his participation in the (Game Time Africa) summit, organized on the occasion of the African Cup of Nations (Morocco 2025), praising the quality of the organization of this continental competition, as well as the performance of the Moroccan national team during this football event.
