King Mohammed VI delivered a powerful message to the participants of the 2025 «Ibrahim Governance Weekend» Forum, which opened on Sunday, June 1, in Marrakech. In his address, read by royal advisor André Azoulay, the King outlined strategies to ensure Africa's development. He called for a «paradigm shift in development financing (...) to devise innovative mechanisms and fully leverage the contributions of the African diaspora». He stressed that «Africa cannot rely solely on public development aid or external funding, which, by nature, generate debt». Instead, he urged Africans to foster «an institutional, economic, and social environment conducive to development». Recalling his February 22, 2015 speech in Abidjan at the opening of the Morocco-Ivory Coast Forum, the King reiterated his call to «strengthen and expand intra-African trade», highlighting that «Africa's share of global trade does not exceed 3%», while «intra-African trade accounts for only 16% of the continent's total trade volume, compared to 60% in Europe and 50% in Asia». «With 40% of the world's raw material reserves and 30% of critical minerals, as well as vast mineral, energy, water, agricultural, and biological resources, Africa can no longer afford to simply export its raw materials. The time has come for Africa to fully harness its wealth», he declared. The King underscored that «Morocco is now positioning itself as a strategic catalyst for South-South partnerships», citing concrete, transformative projects that will reshape the continent's economic and social landscape, including the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline (AAGP), described as «a true corridor for integration and economic development». Morocco, he added, is also committed to financing African projects through the «Mohammed VI Investment Fund» and «Casablanca Finance City». «Development cannot be decreed; it is built through ambitious policies, investment in human capital, and rigorous economic governance». In his 2015 address in Abidjan, King Mohammed VI emphasized that «if the last century was one of independence for African states, the 21st century must be one of triumph over the scourges of underdevelopment, poverty, and exclusion».
