When President Muhammadu Buhari made the first trip to Morocco by a Nigerian head of state last June, he was received with great pomp by King Mohammed VI at the airport in Rabat. The pair waved as they were driven past cheering crowds to the royal palace.
A Nigerian government statement noted how the two leaders agreed on investment projects in fertilisers, agriculture and chemicals, and reaffirmed plans for a 5,660km pipeline connecting Nigerian gas reserves to Morocco and a dozen countries in between.
But what is widely seen as the king’s underlying motive for his extravagant reception of the most influential member of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) went unmentioned: Morocco’s desire to join the regional trading bloc.
Joining Ecowas is seen as a crucial first step in Morocco’s efforts to position itself as the west’s gateway to Africa. It makes sense: while not contiguous, Morocco is in Ecowas’s neighbourhood, and it shares a francophone connection with many of the bloc’s members. Ecowas members Nigeria, Senegal and Ivory Coast are among the biggest African buyers of Moroccan goods, while Morocco has made significant investments across the region in banking, telecommunications and insurance.
Morocco first applied in 2017, soon after it rejoined the African Union, confident that good relations with the bloc’s members would smooth its entry. It has since signed investment pacts with most of Ecowas’s 15 member states yet has faced opposition from those countries. Its membership — agreed in principle two years ago — was reportedly not on the agenda at December’s meeting of Ecowas heads of state. Matters have not moved forward since.
There are many objections: Morocco’s bid is ambiguous, with no clear indications about its true intentions and whether it will obey Ecowas’s rules, from tariffs to free movement; Morocco is a far more developed country than any in Ecowas and would join from a position of power; Morocco has its own free trade deals with, among others, the EU and the US, which could create a potential tariff-free back door into west Africa for foreign companies.
Resistance has been strongest in Nigeria. “What is Morocco going to bring to the table and what will be the benefits to the members of the community, particularly our own country?” says Mansur Ahmed, president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria. “Generally we do not see any direct benefits to the community.” He says Morocco’s links to the US and Europe could lead to dumping and put it “at a significant advantage over the other members of the west African community”.
The MAN is a leader of a consortium of trade groups representing manufacturers, chambers of commerce and small business that in 2017 released a paper arguing “Morocco joining Ecowas is a direct attempt at reducing the influence and strength of Nigeria as a strategic political and economic force”. The association has also led opposition to the Africa Free Trade Agreement, a continental pact that Nigeria has not yet joined. Mr Ahmed says his group wants to study it further before Nigeria signs the pact, which makes Morocco’s bid for Ecowas membership even less of a priority.
Christophe Charlier, chairman of Renaissance Capital, the Russian investment bank, says Morocco’s bid is a logical step, building on development across the region, which includes Moroccan phosphate giant OCP’s investments in Nigeria, Attijariwafa Bank expanding across francophone west Africa, and Moroccan real estate developers building in Abidjan. “Full membership will consolidate the political status of Morocco in the region.” Now that Moroccan companies have developed across Ecowas, moving services and products across countries will create significant value for Morocco and the bloc, he says.
Morocco sees itself is as a hub for western companies to offer goods and services to west Africa, says Riccardo Fabiani, a political analyst at Energy Aspects, a research consultancy. “The problem is [that] in that way Morocco would become a sort of Trojan horse for EU and US companies into west Africa.”
Ecowas has a common trade policy, which means it has a tariff on European and American goods, Mr Fabiani says. These goods are not taxed when they reach Morocco, so it could become a conduit through which European and US companies start “invading” Ecowas with tariff-free goods.
There is also the matter of the disputed territory of Western Sahara. Morocco annexed the former Spanish colony in 1975 and has been in dispute with the Polisario Front, which declared independence in the eastern part of the territory the following year. The African Union and many governments have recognised the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Mr Buhari, like many west African leaders, has backed the independent nation.
Yet Imad Mesdoua, senior analyst at consultancy Control Risks, sees scope for compromise to allay Ecowas members’ concerns. “This would be likely to include a prolonged transition period aimed at reducing the economic differential between Ecowas countries and Morocco,” he says. “For example, some members might be granted tariff-free access to the Moroccan market without automatic reciprocity.”
