INTERVIEW WITH HIS EXCELLENCY, M. MOHA OU ALI TAGMA, THE AMBASSADOR OF THE EMBASSY OF KINGDOM OF MOROCCO

1. YOUR EXCELLENCY SIR, CAN YOU GIVE US A BRIEF OF YOU?

My Name is MohaOu Ali TAGMA, I was born in 1954. After a degree in Political Sciences, I joined the Ecole Nationaled’ Administration before joining the Moroccan Foreign Service in 1981.

Two years later I have been assigned to Equatorial-Guinea and later on to Gabon as Head of Mission.

Thereafter, I joined the Permanent Mission of Morocco in Geneva where I was in charge of international trade matters. It was a thriving experience for me as I have been working on the preparation for the Marrakech conference, which took place in 1994 and which resulted in the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and I have also been involved in the negotiations on Morocco’s membership to the organization.

In 2003 I was appointed as Ambassador of His Majesty King Mohammed VI to Senegal, the Gambia, Cabo Verde and Guinea Bissau. In 2008 I was assigned as Ambassador to Poland before returning back to Rabat Morocco in 2013 to take the lead of the African Affairs Department.

In 2016 I was appointed as the Ambassador of His Majesty King Mohammed VI to Nigeria.

2. WHAT ARE THE AREAS OF BILATERAL RELATIONS BETWEEN NIGERIA AND MOROCCO?

Since King Mohammed VI’s historical visit to Abuja in 2016, Morocco and Nigeria initiated a comprehensive bilateral cooperation in the spirit of regional integration and south-south cooperation.

Several agreements were signed during the visit, opening the way to a major strategic partnership. Two of these agreements have continental scope and dimension.

Gas pipeline

Under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI and His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari, Morocco and Nigeria have agreed to build a gas pipeline to link up both countries.

The Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline regional project will not only offer an outlet for Nigerian gas but will also boost West Africa’s energy market and contribute to the economic development in the sub-region and act as an incentive for the integration of the Western African energy sector.

The project is also beneficial for the electrification efforts on the continent.

It will also be an important factor in the industrialization of West Africa, drain important investment and create a lot of job opportunities on all the way.

Moreover, the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline will offer new openings to sell Nigerian gas and would help the country diversify its customers.

The technical and economic feasibility studies have reached an advanced level and we hope to witness the initiation of works soon.

The pipeline is part of a Moroccan investment push in Africa.

Agriculture:

Morocco is committed to fully cooperate with Nigeria to achieve its objectives of food security, reviving it’s agricultural sector and reduce it’s food importations.

Morocco has already proved to be a very useful partner since 2016 through supplying Nigeria with customized fertilizers at an affordable price and rehabilitate the Nigeria fertilizer blending.

Morocco through OCP (State owned Phosphates Company)will also invest in a fertilizer plant worth $1.3 billion in Nigeria, to assure self-sufficiency of the country in fertilizers and make it an exporter and a supplier of fertilizer to the region.

Morocco has also taken several initiatives in terms of training of farmers, mobile labs to test soil and advise farmers on the best crops and methods of planting.

Education:

In line with Morocco’s commitment to South-South cooperation and the actions undertaken by King Mohammed VI to promote active actions for the benefit of our continent, Morocco grants each year several scholarships to Nigerian students to peruse their higher education in Moroccan Universities in a wide variety of specialties likes engineering, and medicine.

The number of scholarships granted each year to Nigerian students has increased from 25 to 130 between 2016 and 2020.

Morocco is committed to invest in the human resources on our continent to build a generation of highly skilled manpower.

3. IS MOROCCO A PLACE TO BE? CAN PEOPLE ACTUALLY VISIT FOR TOURISM,WEDDINGS OR BIRTHDAY PARTIES?

Morocco is undoubtedly the major tourist destination in Africa. Many international tourists from all over the world choose Morocco as a destination to spend their holidays.

The country has attracted more than 12 million tourists in 2019 making the first destination in Africa for tourism.

Morocco is an incredible country with welcoming, generous and hospitable people and has an abundance of activities to choose from, sites to see, hotels to stay and historic towns to visit. From the mountains of the High Atlas to the dunes of the Sahara Province, passing by the wild Atlantic coast and the architectural richness of the imperial cities, Morocco will charm visitors by its unique landscapes and culture.

Many celebrities including Nollywood stars have decided to celebrate their wedding, anniversaries or birthdays in Morocco.

As per example, Former Miss World AgbaniDarego, Madonna, Brad Pitt, Idris ELBA,Christiano Ronaldo…and many others have held celebrations in Morocco.

We have also witnessed an increased number of Nigerian families from Nigeria and the diaspora choosing Marrakech as place for hosting their weddings and birthday parties.

In general, around 6,000 Nigerians visit Morocco each year and we hope they will be more in the future.

4. LET’S TALK ABOUT DIPLOMATIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NIGERIA AND MOROCCO, PLEASE GIVE US AN INSIGHT ON THE JOURNEY SO FAR

There will be, without a doubt, a before and an after to His Majesty King Mohammed VI’s visit to Nigeria in 2016 and the visit of H.E President Muhammadu BUHARI to Morocco in 2018.

Morocco and Nigeria are two great African countries that both belong to the same North-West African region.

The two countries had to develop their relation for the benefit of their populations and the continent.

The history of the two countries, their stature, their responsibilities as leaders in the Continent, all that naturally predisposes them to combine their efforts and actions for a stable and prosperous Africa.

His Majesty King Mohammed VI’s visit to Nigeria, his first as King, marks a historic turning point and projects the relationship between the two countries in a new dimension for both countries and for all West African countries.

 

The two countries have agreed to join their potential, their resources and their experience in order to build an innovative south-south cooperation model for shared prosperity.

 It is an alliance for progress, a virtuous alliance.

Several agreements were signed during the visit, opening the way to a major strategic partnership. Two of these agreements have continental scope and dimension. 

5. WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON TRADE RELATIONS BETWEEN NIGERIA AND MOROCCO?

Nigeria and Morocco are among the top 05 economic powers of Africa, we certainly have the potential to grow and achieve more together as our economies are quite different. 

Trade between the two countries is already significant, but it is below its actual potential. 

Morocco exports mainly canned fish, phosphates and fertilizers to Nigeria and Nigeria is exporting petrochemical products to Morocco.

My daily mission as Ambassador of Morocco to Nigeria is working for a greater involvement of the business community in both countries to conclude trade and investment deals to be mutually beneficial.

The launching of the African Continental Free Trade Area will also improve significantly trade flows and promote economic relations not only between the two countries but will also contribute to the emergence of an integrated and prosperous Africa.

Morocco has become the first African investor in the ECOWAS region and the second in all of Africa, our economic relations are based on win-win deals, investment, transfer of know-how and technology. We are working on duplicating the same scheme with our Nigerian partners.

6. WHAT OTHER RELATIONSHIP WITH NIGERIA ARE YOU LOOKING OUT FOR AT THE NEAREST FUTURE?

We would like to keep consolidating our relations at all levels and working toward more bilateral cooperation and  extend the areas covered to make it global and inclusive.

Morocco is disposed to share with Nigeria it’s humble experience in all sectors and is willing to learn from Nigeria as well.

In Morocco we believe that to be stronger, we have to belong to a stronger a continent, hence why it is important for all of us in Africa to work together to over-come our challenges.

Morocco chose to adopt a Pan-Africanist approach to fight against under-development, and advocate for peace, stability and prosperity on the continent.

7. ARE THEY NIGERIANS LIVING IN MOROCCO? LIKE A NIGERIAN COMMUNITY?

There are few thousands of Nigerians living in Morocco, most of them are students.

The Majority of them are by the way excelling in their fields of studies.

The rest of the Nigerian community in Morocco is discreet and very well integrated into the Moroccan society.

We have also a notable number of half Moroccans half Nigerians from mixed marriages.

8. WHAT IS MOROCCO KNOWN FOR IN TERMS OF CULTURAL

HERITAGE, TOURISM AND CRAFTWORK?

Morocco has an incredibly rich 2000 years old history.

Morocco’s fascinating heritage can be found in the buildings, cities, in the customs and traditions, and in the Moroccan people themselves.

Morocco is an interesting place to visit as you can see unique blend of traditions and cultures ranging from Berber, Arab, West African, Mediterranean, and jewish cultures.

Morocco is known for producing beautiful handicrafts, and nowhere are these skills better exhibited than in Morocco’s souks in the old medina, where visitors can shop for textiles, rugs, leather goods, furniture, metal work and jewellery, among other things.

Craftmanship is a successful local industry, and Moroccan craftworks are globally renowned for their quality and unique design. 

Moroccan cuisine is succulent and varied. It’s a wonderful blend of Mediterranean, Berber, West African, and European cultural influences. It is fragrant, fresh, deliciously spiced.

Visitors will enjoy tasting a wide range of dishes like the Couscous and Tagine based on vegetables, meats and spices.

As a sign of hospitality, visitors will be often be offered the famous Moroccan mint tea often accompanied by almond and honey-based cookies.

9. WHAT IS YOUR GENERAL VIEW CONCERNING NIGERIA?

Nigeria is one of the most fascinating countries I have been too. It’s the giant of Africa and is an important player on the international scene.

This land is blessed with many resources and has all potentials but the biggest wealth of Nigeria is it’s people.

Nigerian people are very welcoming, warm, talented, creative and resilient.

I am very impressed by the ability of Nigerians to make a dream and work hard to achieve their dreams and turn it into reality.

There is an energy among the Nigerian Youth that is giving me the confidence that the next generations will truly achieve the development we deserve as Africans.

10. NIGERIA JUST CELEBRATED IT’S 60^TH INDEPENDENT, WHAT MESSAGE DO YOU HAVE FOR NIGERIA AND ITS CITIZENS?

I would like to express my heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to Nigeria for more peace, stability and prosperity.

I wish to congratulate  His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari, the Government and the people of Nigeria pour their achievements and success reached under the leadership of His Excellency the President.

In the past few years, the bilateral relations between Morocco and Nigeria have witnessed a significant development and have been further strengthened.

Morocco attaches great importance to its friendship and cooperation with Nigeria and is willing to work together to move toward more cooperation in various fields for the benefitted of the two people.

Happy Independence Day Nigeria.