Sahel : Mali, Morocco agree to bolster water cooperation

Morocco and Mali have agreed to strengthen their cooperation in the water sector, according to a meeting between the two countries' ministers held on the sidelines of the 10th World Water Forum in Bali, Indonesia.

Nizar Baraka, Morocco's Minister of Equipment and Water, and Mamadou Samake, Mali's Minister of Environment, Sanitation and Sustainable Development, discussed potential projects to bolster the resilience of populations in desert and Sahel zones.

Samake, in a statement to MAP, indicated that a ministerial visit to Morocco would be organized «to exchange on the various topics discussed today and to define a roadmap to realize the vision that drives our two countries».

These discussions are part of the growing momentum in relations between the two countries, particularly since Mali's accession on December 23rd to the initiative launched by King Mohammed VI to allow Sahel countries access to the Atlantic Ocean.

Meetings between the two parties have been ongoing since then. A Malian delegation led by the Minister of Health and Social Development, Colonel Assa Badiallo Touré, visited Morocco in March.

In April, Minister of Agriculture Mohamed Sadiki received his Malian counterpart, Lassine Dembélé, in Rabat on the sidelines of the 33rd session of the Regional Conference of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for Africa (ARC33).

The capitals of Morocco and Mali have also seen recent diplomatic activity. The Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, and his Malian counterpart, Abdoulaye Diop, met in Banjul, Gambia on May 2nd. Their discussions focused on «strengthening cooperation relations» between the two countries, «as well as on subjects of common interest».