Facing Opposition within Nigeria, Morocco’s Bid to Join ECOWAS

“Morocco has the dubious distinction of causing dissension in any organization it belongs; it has done that in OAU and AMU and given the chance it will do the same thing in ECOWAS,” wrote Ibrahim, citing Morocco’s withdrawal from the Arab-African summit in November 2016. The move was a response to the presence of SADR, with eight Arab countries also pulling out in solidarity, leading to the summit’s failure.

Nigerian anti-Morocco lobby groups, being supportive of Polisario, have seen a danger in Morocco’s potential admission to ECOWAS.

Dipo Fashina, convener of NMLWS, wrote in an article on News Diary warning against Morocco’s move, saying that “the struggle of the people of Western Sahara for independence being championed by Nigeria will be seriously challenged by Morocco.”

With 12 ECOWAS members out of 15 supporting Morocco in its long-time dispute with Polisario, Nigerian personalities hostile to Morocco’s potential membership believe their country will be isolated on the subject inside the organization.

For Professor Chaegraoui, “it is quite normal that there are lobbies in Nigeria which have interests [in common] with Algeria and Polisario,” and it is understandable that they take action to put pressure on their government.

Do they have the ability to prevent Morocco’s admission to the West African organization? Chegraoui said no, but he pointed out that they can nonetheless influence the process of negotiations.

Just Business, Nothing Personal

Earlier in July Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama said that the acceptance “in principle” of Morocco’s membership request “is one of non-hostility to Morocco.”

“There’s no enmity there that would mean an immediate and automatic negative response to such a request,” he explained to Bloomberg. “What has to be looked at a bit more is all the technical ramifications.”

In addition to its political implications, Morocco’s admission to ECOWAS will also affect economy. For the kingdom’s opponents, this is another reason why its membership should contested.

Former ambassador Ibrahim warned that the “economic fallout” of Moroccan membership would be be “enormous.” The Nigerian diplomat believes that the kingdom is “attracted by the huge ECOWAS market, 70% of which is Nigeria,” adding that the tariff-free access to the ECOWAS market provided to members will be of significant benefit to the kingdom.

In addition, he stated that Morocco, being a manufacturing hub of European countries, will serve as a gateway for EU goods to to ECOWAS market, which he claims will be harmful to the organization’s member states.

Morocco, along with other ECOWAS member states who publically praise its potential admission, disagrees. They argue that the regional bloc will benefit from Morocco’s economic input and its market of 34 million people, along with its expertise in agriculture, offshoring and ferilizers production.

“If Morocco is admitted to ECOWAS, it will only give a greater economic weight to the region,” said Adama Kone, the Ivorian Minister of Finance in April.

Yet, despite favorable public discourse, Professor Chegraoui said that Morocco must pay attention to the fact that even within members states which are friends of Morocco, including Ivory Coast, there are voices opposing the kingdom’s admission on the basis that this will be beneficial only to its own economy, not theirs.

In the meantime, Morocco has to knowledgeably and intelligently engage in negotiating the technical aspect of its potential membership of ECOWAS.

“Negotiation might be long and might take years,” said Chegraoui.

Source: Moroccoworldnews