>> POLICY BRIEF ISSN: 1989-2667 Nº 196 - FEBRUARY 2015 Morocco’s religious diplomacy in Africa Ghita Tadlaoui Over the past decade, Morocco has tried to diversify its >> traditionally northern-oriented foreign relations southwards. HIGHLIGHTS Developing closer economic and political relations with Sub-Saharan African countries, Rabat hoped, would help raise Morocco’s regional • After years of isolation from the profile and boost the Kingdom’s exports. Hassan II, the father of the rest of the African continent, current King Mohammed VI, started opening up to the continent Morocco has been trying to raise its during the last years of his reign in the late 1990s by signing numerous profile in West Africa and the Sahel cooperation agreements and deploying the diplomatic corps of the through the use of religious Kingdom all over the continent. This represented a radical shift in diplomacy. Morocco’s foreign relations with Africa. • The Kingdom has also greatly The current global financial and economic crisis has aggravated boosted its economic ties with Sub- Morocco’s considerable domestic economic and social challenges, Saharan Africa and is now trying to especially since European demand for Moroccan export products has position itself as an entry point to slowed down. In need to diversify its export markets, Morocco has started the African continent for Western to reach out to southern countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, and investors. Mali. Moreover, in August 2013 Mohammed VI formally announced that Morocco’s foreign policy priority would henceforth be strengthening • However, there remain many the economy, inter alia through closer ties with Africa. While Morocco’s obstacles to Morocco’s African main diplomatic and economic partners remain the countries of the ambitions, such as the unresolved European Union (EU) and the United States (US), from 2008-2013 the Western Sahara conflict, rivalry with Kingdom doubled its exports to Sub-Saharan Africa. Algeria, and question marks over the sustainability of the Kingdom's Morocco’s efforts to step up its southern engagement, however, transcend model of democratisation. merely economic interests. With the spread of arms across North Africa MOROCCO’S RELIGIOUS DIPLOMACY IN AFRICA 2 >>>>>> and the growth of jihadist groups in the Sahel fol - Moroccan-West African relationship. Today, there lowing the ouster of Colonel Gaddafi in Libya in are millions of Tijane Muslims spread around 2011, Morocco faces a new intensification of secu - Western African countries such as Senegal, rity threats at its doorstep, which can only be fully Guinea, Mauritania, Gambia, and Côte d’Ivoire. tackled by stronger regional cooperation. As a The followers of this religious group still regard the result, Morocco wants to end its relative diplomat - Moroccan king as a religious leader, and Fez as a ic isolation in Africa – Rabat vacated its seat at the pilgrimage centre, thereby conferring legitimacy to Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the prede - Mohammed VI as a moderate Sunni leader. cessor of the African Union (AU), in 1984, as the Kingdom was opposed to the OAU recognition of Regional cooperation on religious matters is the the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR – most evident expression of the Moroccan king’s also known as Western Sahara). Morocco’s static religious diplomacy. In September 2013, posture on the unresolved Western Sahara issue Morocco signed an agreement with Mali’s new remains an impediment to a more comprehensive government to train 500 Malian Imams in an political rapprochement with its immediate south - effort to promote a more tolerant version of Islam ern neighbours. in Mali. Following this initiative, the Moroccan Ministry of Islamic Affairs has received further However, Rabat has recently added a new requests for educating Imams from countries such element to its regional approach: the strategic use as Guinea and Nigeria. In addition, Morocco is of ‘religious diplomacy’. Presenting himself as a also planning on building mosques in different religious authority, Mohamed VI has sought to Sub-Saharan countries such as Senegal, Niger, use a moderate discourse of Islam to help build Benin, and Guinea. On recent visits to African new economic and political ties. neighbouring countries, Mohammed VI has symbolically offered copies of the Koran to be distributed amongst the country’s mosques. PROMOTING RELIGIOUS ‘MODERATION’ In addition, Morocco has managed to peacefully include an Islamist party – the Party of Justice Moroccan religious ‘moderation’ is meant to both and Development (PJD) – in government (they contrast with and limit the propagation of the ultra - are currently holding office). This peaceful conservative brand of Wahhabi Islam sponsored by accommodation with political Islam ostensibly Saudi Arabia, which has inspired numerous extrem - recommends Morocco to Sahel and West African ist groups spawning instability in the region. countries as a potential model to emulate, alongside the fact that it is one of the few West Africa is home to 190 million Muslims, and countries that has managed to remain stable in a for historical reasons many of them recognise the region of turmoil. legitimacy of the Moroccan king’s religious leader - ship. Mohammed VI uses the status of ‘Comman - der of the Faithful’, bestowed upon him by the ASPIRING TO REGIONAL LEADERSHIP, Moroccan constitution, to assert his position of RIVALRY WITH ALGERIA regional religious leader. His legitimacy derives from Morocco’s relations with West Africa during the Morocco’s religious diplomacy has not been pre-colonial period, around the 11 th century, when limited to promoting religious cooperation. It has most of the region adopted Islam due to the jihad of also been put to use to try to deepen security the Almoravids, a berber dynasty of Morocco. cooperation between the countries of the region and to raise Morocco’s regional profile. In its The Tijaniyyah Brotherhood , a Sufi group within efforts to thwart terrorism and ensure broader Sunni Islam, is a legacy of this long-held regional stability, however, Morocco also aspires POLICY BRIEF - Nº 196 - FEBRUARY 2015 3 to supplant its long-term rival Algeria as a leader nity initiated by former Libyan leader Gaddafi in in the region. Rabat’s geopolitical soft power 1998), and which does not include Algeria. efforts have been complemented by an intensification of diplomatic relations with Sub- Unofficially assuming the leadership of the CEN- Saharan Africa at a time of growing insecurity in SAD, over the past few years Morocco has the Sahel (as reflected, for example, in the rekindled the organisation to expand security accumulation of visits the Moroccan king paid to cooperation between its 28 member states, Sahel countries over the past year). including creating a Permanent Council for Peace and Security. It is worth noting that the countries Algeria, historically the informal leader on security that form part of the CEN-SAD are mainly challenges such as countering terrorism in the Muslim Sahel-African countries which respect the wider region, but lacking Rabat’s religious soft spiritual authority of the Moroccan monarch. power, has recently appeared to lose some credibil - The king’s religious diplomacy hence indirectly ity and regional political standing. This is in part helps him to consolidate Morocco’s regional because of Algiers’ failure to prevent a major terror - leadership on security matters, to the (potential) ist attack on its own soil in 2013 – the hostage cri - detriment of Algiers, Rabat’s rival. sis at a gas facility at In Amenas. King Mohammed VI has also made use of his close ties and privileged status as a religious COUNTERING EXTREMISM IN NORTH Rabat’s geopolitical authority to mediate AND WEST AFRICA in Mali – traditional - soft power ly an Algerian client The insurgency of radical Islamist militias in efforts have been – between Bamako’s Northern Mali in January 2012 was a wakeup call central government for Morocco. Rabat supported the France-led complemented and the rebel and Operation Serval in Mali in early 2013 by sending Tuareg groups of humanitarian aid to Mali and establishing a by an intensification Northern Mali. A military hospital in Bamako. Morocco also gave of diplomatic newly self-confident $5million to the African-led International Morocco may be Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA). The relations with able to take advan - Moroccan Royal Military Academy of Meknes tage of Algiers’ weak - also hosts military officers from West Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa ened position also on has recently created an exchange programme for other dossiers, such Malian officers to be trained in Morocco. at a time of growing as the future of insecurity in the Western Sahara. More generally, since the Malian insurgency, Rabat has put fighting violent jihadism – which may be Sahel Algeria has been at detrimental to its own stability – at the centre of its the forefront of secu - regional efforts. Morocco’s ambassador to the Unit - rity cooperation initiatives involving Sub-Saharan ed Nations (UN), Mohamed Loulichki, called in countries, most notably the Nouakchott Process 2012 for the ‘development of a united and inclusive (an African Union initiative to improve security global cooperation between states of North and cooperation across the Sahel-Saharan region). Due West Africa and the UN’ to deal with security chal - to their difficult bilateral relations, Algiers has lenges in the Sahel. Morocco has also tried to revive always excluded Morocco from such regional the ‘Tripoli Process’ (a regional border security frameworks. Over the past few years, however, cooperation initiative originally created by Libya’s Morocco has been pushing the alternative frame - Gadafi), including organising a conference in Rabat work of the Community of the Sahel-Saharan in 2013 calling for stronger implementation of that States (CEN-SAD – a regional economic commu - grouping’s agreements. In addition, Morocco has >>>>>> MOROCCO’S RELIGIOUS DIPLOMACY IN AFRICA 4 >>>>>> proposed creating a ‘Ministerial Conference of economy.