On the sidelines of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita met last night in New York with his counterparts from four Sahel countries, Mali, Chad, Niger, and Burkina Faso, who joined the royal initiative in December 2023 to facilitate their access to the Atlantic Ocean. The discussions centered on the «operationalization» of this royal project, first announced on November 6, 2023. The ministers underscored the importance of the historic audience granted by King Mohammed VI on April 28, 2025, to the foreign ministers of the Confederation of Sahel States. That meeting, they noted, allowed them to reaffirm their full commitment to the royal initiative and their determination to accelerate its implementation, according to a statement from Moroccan diplomacy. They also welcomed the «broad support» the initiative has received at regional, continental, and international levels, and expressed readiness to gradually launch projects under its framework. Implementation will draw on the work of national task forces established in Morocco, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Chad, the statement added. It is worth recalling that Morocco previously convened these four Sahel countries in September 2024 at UN headquarters.
