King Mohammed VI is set to pay a two-day official visit to Guinea, starting February 22, Guinea’s media reported on Tuesday.

The King’s will head to Guinea’s capital, Conakry, to express his gratitude to  President Alpha Condé for his major role in the readmission of Morocco to the African Union (AU) during the 28th Summit of the AU held in Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa in late January, 2017.

While chairing the summit, Condé blocked the maneuvers of Morocco’s rivals, urging them to respect the majority of countries that supported Morocco’s return to the pan-African organization.For this next phase in his tour of Africa, the King will also pay official visits to five other African countries:  Ghana, Côte D’Ivoire, Guinea-Conakry, Zambia and Mali.

During the visits, the King is expected to sign bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding as part of the Kingdom’s goal to consolidate South-South partnership and strengthen cooperative ties with the rest of the continent.

The King noted during the AU summit that Morocco has signed nearly a thousand agreements with African countries since 2000, in contrast to the period between 1956 and 1990 when only 515 were signed.

He also underscored that despite the absence of Morocco from the AU, the Kingdom has never left Africa. Morocco’s ties with other African countries has remained strong, and African countries have always relied on Morocco, he said.

In addition to the economic aspect of the King’s visits, Morocco seeks to prompt Ghana and Zambia, historic supporters of Polisario, to reconsider their stance on the Western Sahara issue.

Since his succession to the throne in 1999, the King has never paid an official visit to Ghana. His visit is expected to revamp the diplomatic tie between Accra and Rabat.

Source :Morocco World News