The Atlantic initiative for Sahel countries: The vision and the constraints
Dr Reda El Fellah
The Atlantic initiative for Sahel countries: The vision and the constraints
Dr Reda El Fellah
Professor of International Relations
University Ibn Zohr. Agadir. Morocco
Abstract
The Atlantic initiative launched by the King of Morocco Mohamed VI on novembre 2023 constitues for Sahel countries a real opportunity to benefit from an opening up of their economies to the ocean coast. The strategic vision behind the initiative is to enable the concerned countries to overcome the important hindrances related to their respective geographic position. The initiative offers new perspectives for a holistic accessibility of the four Sahel states (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad) to land and maritime trade routes, through large infrastructures, and closer cooperation between Sahel region and Moroccan maritime facilities and infrastructures on the Atlantic coast
The logic of accessibility to maritime international trade stems from the hypothesis that there is a linked chain which connects the setting up of infrastructures grid from landlocked countries to the coastal countries and the development of trade and investments dynamics. The expected benefits from such dynamics are seen as a viable alternative to security and military centered solutions in the Sahel
This paper argues that this initiative is implicitly a test for all the vested interests of foreign powers looking for influence in Sahel to show their real commitment to the stability and development of Sahel countries. Since the interaction between security and economic variables is an important key of analysis, this paper will focus on this interaction as catalyzed in the political situation and its prospects of three out of the four Sahel countries (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso)
Key words: Atlantic initiative, Morocco, Strategic opening up, Sahel countries, vision and constraints