The Kenyan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Musalia Mudavadi, continued his economic tour in Morocco. On Wednesday, he posted on the platform X: «During my visit to the OCP headquarters in Casablanca, I had fruitful discussions with Mr. Ilyas El Fali, the group's Chief Strategy Officer, and Mr. Mohamed Hettiti, CEO of OCP Africa». «At the heart of our discussions was the urgent need to accelerate the creation of a fertilizer blending plant in Kenya—a project expected to significantly reduce input costs and improve yields for Kenyan farmers», he added. The minister emphasized that «this partnership marks a major step forward in ensuring Kenyan soils receive adequate, high-quality nutrients tailored to our unique tropical conditions, while also bolstering food security and empowering farmers». Mudavadi affirmed «Kenya is on the right path to deepening its agricultural transformation through strategic collaboration with the Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP), a Moroccan leader in phosphate and fertilizer production». This visit comes two days after Kenya announced its support for Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara. As a reminder, a French media outlet revealed in April 2024 that OCP planned to construct a fertilizer production unit in Kenya. This project was reportedly to be announced during a visit by President William Ruto to Morocco—a visit that has yet to take place. At the time, the French publication noted that «the Kenyan Minister of Agriculture, Mithika Linturi, is working with his counterparts in Rabat and with Moroccan industry giant OCP to finalize the details of this future infrastructure». Kenya could follow in the footsteps of Nigeria and Ethiopia—two African countries that benefit from Moroccan expertise in the fertilizer sector while maintaining their recognition of the «Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR)».
