Think Forward.

The Sighs of Azemmour 3490

Aziz Daouda, 11 mon.
- History - Art - Realist -
3.7 min read.
As we were heading towards Walidia, just to enjoy its beautiful lagoon, oysters and fish, my daughter, my wife, and I decided to make a short stop in Azemmour. I had promised myself I woud show my daughter the city as soon as I had the chance. We are here a stone's throw from Casablanca, a handful of kilometers from El-Jadida and not far from Jorf Lasfar, a pride of the industrialization of modern Morocco. Personally, I am rather fond of this city. Few are so captivating. I cannot explain why. There, you can be at times a berber in short Jellaba, tchamir and rounded or pointed toe slippers; sometimes a Phoenician clad in white in the style of the Greeks in their time of glory; sometimes wearing the toga of a proud Roman citizen or the blue turban of a rough Berghouata. You can daydream about the Portuguese singing their triumph at the capture of the city. You hear, the sound of your steps on an aged pavement, evoking that of the Saadian army taking possession of the city walls. The noise and vociferations of the soldiers resound there again and again; but in silence. At the turn of an alley of the ancient city, you hear the distant and confused voice of Sidi Abderahman El Mejdoub, wailing his pain in front of evil, questioning the world and the universe. At the turn of a street, you are greeted by the whispering voice, barely audible, of Rabbi Abraham Moul Ness and his prayers at the rising of the sun and its setting Sidi Brahim for Muslims. Religions struggle to find boundaries here... Moreover, it is a sort of miracle that revealed to the two communities that Abraham was indeed a saint. The citizens had just installed a mill right in front of the cave where he spent his time meditating and praying. The animals that powered the mill quickly fell ill and died one after the other. It was then understood that Abraham did not want to be disturbed in his meditation. Since then, he is Rabbi Abraham for the Jews, Sidi Brahim for the Muslims, holy for both. Farther inside the city, you can see rather silent young people, looking sullen, crestfallen, who face you at the turn of a lane. Some of those who walk by you look haggard, as though they expressed weariness or disgust; perhaps even deep anger and repeated hurt. At the corner of neighbouring street, on a small shapeless square, it is the jerky sound of a loom that catches your ear. One of the last Deraz still in activity weaves silken or woolen scarves. Tourists like them but do not come often... He works, he loves his job and keeps doing it, waiting for better days to come; or at least hoping that the war in the Middle East stops. Deep down, he must wish that his Israeli friends return to reason and quickly drive out their current leaders; neurotics thirsty for blood more than other thing. He is waiting for the Moussem but does not know if the Jewish Moroccans who return annually for the pilgrimage will still be numerous. The Arts and Crafts House is silent and expectant too. It spends long spells of time waiting that a small group would pass by to finally enliven it for an hour or so. The master craftsmen who stay there seem to contemplate the passage of time. Their eyes are nostalgic for a recent past certainly idealized, and a more distant past loaded with wealth and power, forever gone. A lady of a certain age, without any discomfort, dressed in battered pajamas, is there in front of her home, sitting on an stool. The blue door of her modest house, is wide open. The lady is a bit too large for her stool. Her gaze is blank. She does not notice our silhouettes and seems not to hear our involuntarily light steps, as if not to disturb the history or stir the anger of abandoned walls, houses with walled doors, those that time has knocked down and those that passively wait for the signal of the tumbling of tired stones that no longer have anything to hold onto. Behind the heavy doors of ancient buildings - and there are still many thank God - and some houses not yet walled up or fallen into oblivion of time and humans, we can guess the presence of young girls busying themselves with embroidery. Few are those who still have a passion for this ancestral art specific to the city with its bright colours and dragons. What are dragons doing here, if not recall a past so distant that it fades into the background of history. Some say that it is a Portuguese merchant who introduced this art behind the walls of the city. At the corner of a small square, as there are many in the city, in front of a small and neglected grocery store, stand idle young men. One of them must look like Mustapha Azemmouri, also called Esteban the Moor or Estevanico. He may even carry his genes. Without Estevanico, North America would never have been what it is now. What a destiny. To leave one country and travel so far, and change the course of history on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Walking out through one of the gates of the ancient city, one only has one thought: Azemmour is looking for a present that does not come. It is dying and dying. Maybe it is already dead. Some time ago, Karim Boukhari wrote in an article « I have visited Azemmour. A friend, from the city, warned me: Watch out, he said, it is a dead city. » Go and walk the promenade around the city walls. An esplanade that my friend Zaki Semlali has laid out with the little he had to revive this special relationship that the city has with river Oum Rebi3. Today, plastic is unfortunately more abundant than fish. Gone are the shad and the beautiful, fleshy ambrines. Some sections of the wall and houses collapse and flow towards the oued like tears of agony. The nostalgic Azemmour peeks at the Atlantic Ocean and watches, helplessly, the waves smashing in the distance. I pray the Almighty that this piece of our precious history can finally benefit from the attention of our rulers. My daughter, my wife, and I left the place sad, wounded in the depths of our souls; but the sublime voice of Sanaa Marahati singing some poems written somewhere in the city makes us hope for a better future for Azemmour.
youtu.be/T4BIRCsXQWs?si=KmRqI3mq...
Aziz Daouda

Aziz Daouda

Directeur Technique et du Développement de la Confédération Africaine d'Athlétisme. Passionné du Maroc, passionné d'Afrique. Concerné par ce qui se passe, formulant mon point de vue quand j'en ai un. Humaniste, j'essaye de l'être, humain je veux l'être. Mon histoire est intimement liée à l'athlétisme marocain et mondial. J'ai eu le privilège de participer à la gloire de mon pays .


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Moroccan Policy in Africa: An Engaged and Unifying Dynamic 191

Aziz Daouda, 1 d.
Under the reign of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Morocco pursues a proactive and inclusive African policy aimed at strengthening its economic, political, social, and cultural ties with the continent. This strategy favors pragmatic bilateralism, promoting African economic integration, south-south cooperation, and strategic partnerships. Agreements have been signed with over 40 African countries. Morocco’s return to the African Union in 2017 marked a major turning point in this strategy and became a true accelerator. The Kingdom is also interested in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a growth driver. Among key projects in this perspective is the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline, stretching 5,600 km. It will connect West Africa to North Africa and transport around 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. It will improve energy access for no less than 400 million people across 13 countries. This project fits within Morocco's energy transition strategy. Estimated at more than 25 billion dollars, it heralds major benefits for energy security and regional development through complementarity. Morocco is also strongly committed to education and skills training, offering nearly 15,000 scholarships annually to students from 49 countries. About 20,000 African students are welcomed each year in fields such as engineering, medicine, finance, and social sciences, thanks to the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation (AMCI). This ambitious program aims to train a new generation of leaders and strengthens scientific and cultural exchanges. The Moroccan economy is well established in Africa, with over 1,000 companies active in banking, real estate, telecommunications, agriculture, and infrastructure sectors. Attijariwafa Bank, BMCE Bank of Africa, and Groupe Banque Populaire operate in more than 26 countries, generating hundreds of millions of dirhams in Sub-Saharan Africa. These institutions, with 45 subsidiaries and 4 branches, realize about 23% of their turnover on the continent, facilitating project financing and regional financial integration. Wafa Assurance and the Saham Group also strengthen this presence in numerous countries. The Moroccan health system, known for its modern infrastructure and skilled personnel, attracts thousands of Africans annually for various treatments, reinforcing human ties. Morocco also develops projects in sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, vocational training, and infrastructure, supported by the Mohammed VI Foundation for Sustainable Development. More than 60% of Moroccan foreign direct investment (FDI) targets Africa. Morocco’s trade with Africa remains modest compared to its total foreign trade: around 7 to 8%. However, this margin for growth is very large and promising. Trade volumes have significantly increased. In 2023, total trade volume between Morocco and African countries reached 52.7 billion dirhams, representing a 45% rise compared to 36 billion dirhams in 2013, with an average annual growth of about 10%. Maroc Telecom, active in 10 countries, serves approximately 54 million customers, contributing to digital integration. Groups such as Ynna Holding, Alliances, and Addoha lead major projects in several countries, notably housing and hospital construction. In agriculture, OCP Africa operates in 18 countries, training over 1.5 million farmers and providing fertilizers tailored to local soils and farming types. Its Agribooster program facilitates access to inputs, financing, and markets, boosting productivity and food security. OCP also invests in fertilizer blending and storage units across several countries and collaborates on innovative projects with USAID and the World Bank, including green ammonia production. SOMAGEC, a major Moroccan port operator, carries out projects in Equatorial Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, Benin, and Djibouti, employing thousands. Africa Motors, a subsidiary of Auto Hall, develops automotive production and distribution in partnership with Dongfeng for several African markets. Sport is also a cooperation lever: the Royal Moroccan Football Federation has signed more than 43 partnerships with African federations. Through its companies and projects, Morocco consolidates its key role in African development, based on solidarity, economic integration, and shared prosperity, eliciting both jealousy and recognition. Moroccan cooperation in Africa is a strategic pillar built on sharing expertise, economic development, and strengthening cultural ties. Thanks to its geographic and historic positioning, Morocco plays a major role in regional integration, supporting infrastructure, training, and innovation projects. This cooperation is characterized by a lasting commitment to promote peace, security, and sustainable development across Africa. The proposed opening-up of the Sahel countries through the future port of Dakhla will undoubtedly accelerate this integration for the benefit of hundreds of millions of Africans. The idea to build ports like Dakhla relies heavily on Morocco’s strategic geography. This is evident on the map: Morocco has a coastline of over 3,500 km, facing Europe, West Africa, and the Americas. Dakhla, in particular, lies halfway between Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa, making it a natural maritime waypoint. Morocco’s Atlantic coast is on the route linking the Mediterranean (via Gibraltar) to West Africa and the Americas, capturing a portion of global logistic flows. Morocco is less than 15 km from Europe at Gibraltar and simultaneously connected to West Africa. The port of Dakhla fits this logic: serving as a logistical and industrial hub between the two continents. The Dakhla area offers favorable natural conditions: deep waters and low swell, allowing the construction of a port capable of accommodating large ships, a rarity on the West African coast. With the Continental Free Trade Area, a port like Dakhla will allow Morocco to be an entry point for commercial flows to West Africa and beyond to Mali, Niger, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, and more. Morocco has understood this, as have its African partners. The future will be bright, hand in hand.

Green March, Algerian Plots, and International Diplomacy: The Sahara at the Heart of Contemporary History 233

Aziz Daouda, 1 d.
The Moroccan Sahara, which became a Spanish colony in 1884, was liberated following the Green March, an unprecedented peaceful mobilization initiated by King Hassan II. The Kingdom had grown weary of the fruitless démarches undertaken at the UN before the Fourth Committee since its independence. Once the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice was obtained, recognizing the existence, at the time of colonization, of legal ties of allegiance between the Sultan of Morocco and the tribes living in the Sahara territory, Morocco took action. From November 6 to 9, 1975, 350,000 volunteers, armed only with the Quran and the national flag, marched toward the Sahara, symbolizing the popular will to reintegrate this territory, historically an integral part of Morocco’s sovereignty, just as the part attached by France to postcolonial Algeria. Several citizens from various nations took part in this epic. Since Kadhafi and Boumediene viewed this liberation, which reinforced Hassan II’s stature in Africa and worldwide, with hostility, they sponsored the Polisario, a movement claiming to liberate a supposed Sahrawi people. Quickly, the Polisario was heavily armed and supported by the pro-Soviet and communist regimes of the time, in the name of peoples’ liberation. The term “Spanish Sahara” disappeared, and even “Moroccan Sahara” vanished from discourse. Through clever propaganda, the duo imposed a new terminology: “Western Sahara.” In reality, Algeria sought to remove from the border dispute with the Kingdom the part of the Sahara it occupies. It must be recalled that during colonization, some areas of the Sahara were administratively attached to French Algeria. These originally Moroccan territories, called by France the “Southern Territories,” were not part of the three traditional Algerian departments: Algiers, Oran, and Constantine, but were under military administration. They were gradually taken from the Sharifian Empire’s territory. From 1902, these "Southern Territories" grouped several Saharan regions under French military control. This special arrangement lasted until 1957, when departmentalization was extended, but the Sahara remained under distinct management. These areas, administered within French Algeria, included all the regions now forming part of the Algerian Sahara. Morocco, refusing to negotiate border issues with France, had an agreement with the Algerian government-in-exile for the restitution of these zones after independence. Those who took power in Algiers at liberation dismissed the agreement outright. Thus, from 1975 onwards, a war, logistically supported by Kadhafi, Boumediene, Cuba, and others, was waged against Morocco, which was caught off guard by the enemy's army size. The UN then intervened, claiming to maintain peace in the region. True peace was only achieved in 1991 when Morocco reversed the power balance and captured thousands of Algerian soldiers and officers, including the well-known Said Chengriha. They were released thanks to mediation by Egypt, led by Hosni Mubarak, himself a former prisoner of the Moroccan army in 1963, sent by President Anwar Sadat, and above all due to Hassan II’s generosity, who never wanted to humiliate his defeated neighbor. The UN then created the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), with Morocco providing a demilitarized zone for its operation. Several envoys of the Secretary-General succeeded each other with the mission of bridging positions. All failed because in this matter, there is mostly bad faith, jealousy, intent to harm, and financial interests. In short, an artificial conflict. All resigned and went on to enjoy peaceful retirements. Since France abandoned Algeria to its fate, North Africa has never been peaceful. There was the Sand War against Morocco, led by Algeria and a coalition of Arab military regimes, and also the Algerian military invasion from the east where part of the Tunisian Sahara was taken. Hassan II told De Gaulle at the time that Algeria would become Africa’s cancer. This country was built on the blood of its martyrs, but their sacrifice was usurped by a military junta that endures and revels in perpetuating conflicts, notably regarding Morocco’s southern territories and, recently, with Mali. The last UN mediator, Staffan De Mistura, perhaps facing a deadlock, reportedly proposed an anachronistic solution: partition of the territory between Morocco and the Polisario. An idea that ignores the political, legal, and diplomatic reality, now largely consolidated in favor of Morocco. One wonders on which foot he got up that day. He could not have ignored that Morocco will never accept partition nor the establishment of a country under Algeria’s influence on its southern flank. Already forced to recognize Mauritania, Morocco will not make the same mistake again. Staffan De Mistura’s idea is totally out of step with international consensus. Three permanent members of the Security Council, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom, Spain, the former occupying power, as well as nearly 120 other countries, have officially recognized Moroccan sovereignty over "Western Sahara." Some have even established consulates there. This support is no accident but the result of a coherent diplomatic strategy, recognition of the Kingdom’s right to defend its territorial integrity, and successful efforts to integrate these provinces in a perspective of development and regional stability. Boutros Massad, special advisor to President Trump, unequivocally reminded Mr. Staffan De Mistura that only the Moroccan solution is acceptable. Proposing a partition amounts to circumventing this consensus by giving credit to a “mercenary” movement composed largely of foreigners and supported exclusively by Algeria. Rather than fostering peace, this approach perpetuates the status quo and risks a direct conflict between Morocco and Algeria, weakening the UN’s legitimacy as guarantor of respect for international law. Morocco has presented a credible alternative to this artificial conflict. Initiated in 2007, this project offers inhabitants wide political, administrative, and economic autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty. This is already the case: almost all administrative and representative responsibilities are in their hands. The Polisario today faces a decisive turning point: accept this plan and hope to play a role, yet to be clarified, or reject the offer and risk isolation and disappearance without political gain. As for Algeria, it has already lost everything: billions of dollars and a losing cause. Its leaders will have to answer to the Algerian people.