Morocco is actively engaging in discussions with member nations of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), including those that maintain «diplomatic» ties with the Polisario Front. This commitment was highlighted by a meeting that took place yesterday on the sidelines of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The talks involved Morocco's Foreign Minister, Nasser Bourita, and his Tanzanian counterpart, Mahmoud Thabit Kombo. This diplomatic engagement proceeded despite a speech delivered just hours earlier by Tanzania's Vice President, Philip Mpango, at the UN podium. Mpango expressed his country's support for the «Palestinian and Sahrawi peoples, who continue to be deprived of their fundamental rights to freedom, sovereignty, and self-determination». Morocco is thus committed to strengthening its relationship with Tanzania, which recognizes the «SADR». Notably, on January 26, 2023, in Dakar, during the Forum on Food Sovereignty in Africa, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan met with the CEO of OCP, Mostafa Terrab. This meeting centered on the construction of a fertilizer blending plant in Kisarawe, setting the stage for a visit by former Tanzanian Foreign Minister, January Yusuf Makamba, to Rabat in December 2023. During this visit, both parties agreed to implement the 22 agreements signed during King Mohammed VI's visit to Tanzania in October 2016. On September 5, 2022, in Rabat, the Vice President of the Tanzanian National Assembly, Mussa Azzan Zungu, engaged in talks with his Moroccan counterpart, Rachi Talbi Alami. Morocco's dialogue with SADC countries has yielded significant results, convincing nations such as the Comoros, Zambia, Eswatini, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Malawi to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara and to open consulates in Laâyoune and Dakhla. Additionally, Madagascar supports Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara.
