RABAT: Moroccans welcomed their country’s “victorious return” to the African Union as their king on Tuesday took a seat at the bloc’s Ethiopian headquarters for the first time in decades.
“Morocco should have rejoined the African Union a long time ago,” pensioner Mohamed Alaoui told AFP in the capital Rabat late Monday.
“The country will now revert to its role as a political and economic leader and correct its previous errors.”
Morocco quit the then Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1984 after the bloc admitted the former Western Sahara as a separate member.
Morocco says the former Spanish colony under its control is an integral part of the kingdom, while the Polisario Front, which campaigns for the territory’s independence, demands a referendum on self-determination.
“Morocco never renounced its African origins. It always called for the union of African and Arab countries,” said Abdellatif Tighazouane, 25.
“Today we were able to realize this spirit of unity,” the student said.
Mustapha Akhaziz, a language professor, said it would be an opportunity for Morocco to “defend its interests on the issue of the Western Sahara.”
Morocco’s press on Tuesday hailed the kingdom rejoining the 54-member bloc after 33 years of absence.
“Historic decision,” “Victorious return,” “Thank you your Majesty...” read several headlines.
The official news agency MAP published a string of interviews with African ministers welcoming Morocco back into its “African family.”
On Monday, 39 countries voted to allow Morocco back into the fold despite resistance from countries such as Algeria and South Africa, which have traditionally backed the Polisario Front.
Mohamed Salem Ould Salek, foreign minister of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara, said the SADR accepted the decision.
He said on Monday that having Morocco in the same room would allow the SADR to pressure them into allowing a referendum on self-determination in accordance with a 1975 decision by the International Court of Justice.
Morocco has been angling to return to the African Union for several years, and King Mohammed VI formally announced his intention to do so in July last year.
Morocco is increasingly looking southwards to expand its economy, and has realized it cannot drive an agenda on the continent without being a member of the union, observers say.
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Moroccans welcome ‘victorious return’ to African Union
Moroccans welcome ‘victorious return’ to African Union
Khartoum markets back to life but ‘nothing like before’
- The hustle and bustle of buyers and sellers has returned to Khartoum’s central market, but “it’s nothing like before,” fruit vendor Hashim Mohamed told AFP, streets away from where war first broke out
KHARTOUM: The hustle and bustle of buyers and sellers has returned to Khartoum’s central market, but “it’s nothing like before,” fruit vendor Hashim Mohamed told AFP, streets away from where war first broke out nearly three years ago.
On April 15, 2023, central Khartoum awoke to battles between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who had been allies since 2021, when they ousted civilians from a short-lived transitional government.
Their war has since killed tens of thousands and displaced millions.
In greater Khartoum alone, nearly four million people — around half the population — fled the city when the RSF took over.
Hashim Mohamed did not.
“I had to work discreetly, because there were regular attacks” on businesses, said the fruit seller, who has worked in the sprawling market for 50 years.
Like him, those who stayed in the city reported having lived in constant fear of assaults and robberies from militiamen roaming the streets.
Last March, army forces led an offensive through the capital, pushing paramilitary fighters out and revealing the vast looting and destruction left behind.
“The market’s not what it used to be, but it’s much better than when the RSF was here,” said market vendor Adam Haddad, resting in the shade of an awning.
In the market’s narrow, dusty alleyways, fruits and vegetables are piled high on makeshift stalls or tarps spread on the ground.
Two jobs to survive
Khartoum, where entire neighborhoods have been damaged by the fighting, is no longer threatened by the mass starvation that stalks battlefield cities and displacement camps elsewhere in Sudan.
But with the economy a shambles, a good living is still hard to provide.
“People complain about prices, they say it’s too expensive. You can find everything, but the costs keep going up: supplies, labor, transportation,” said Mohamed.
Sudan has known only triple-digit annual inflation for years. Figures for 2024 stood at 151 percent — down from a 2021 peak of 358 percent.
The currency has also collapsed, going from trading at 570 Sudanese pounds to the US dollar before the war to 3,500 in 2026, according to the black market rate.
One Sudanese teacher, who only a few years ago could provide comfortably for his two children, told AFP he could no longer pay his rent with a monthly salary of 250,000 Sudanese pounds ($71).
To feed his family, pay for school and cover health care, he “works in the market or anywhere” on his days off.
“You have to have another job to pay for the bare minimum of basic needs,” he said, asking for anonymity to protect his privacy and to avoid “problems with security services.”
Beyond Khartoum, the war still rages, with the RSF in control of much of western and southern Sudan and pushing into the central Kordofan region.
For Adam Haddad, the road to recovery will be a long one.
“We don’t have enough resources or workers or liquidity going through the market,” he said, adding that reliable electricity was still a problem.
“The government is striving to restore everything, and God willing, in the near future, the power will return and Khartoum will become what it once was.”
On April 15, 2023, central Khartoum awoke to battles between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who had been allies since 2021, when they ousted civilians from a short-lived transitional government.
Their war has since killed tens of thousands and displaced millions.
In greater Khartoum alone, nearly four million people — around half the population — fled the city when the RSF took over.
Hashim Mohamed did not.
“I had to work discreetly, because there were regular attacks” on businesses, said the fruit seller, who has worked in the sprawling market for 50 years.
Like him, those who stayed in the city reported having lived in constant fear of assaults and robberies from militiamen roaming the streets.
Last March, army forces led an offensive through the capital, pushing paramilitary fighters out and revealing the vast looting and destruction left behind.
“The market’s not what it used to be, but it’s much better than when the RSF was here,” said market vendor Adam Haddad, resting in the shade of an awning.
In the market’s narrow, dusty alleyways, fruits and vegetables are piled high on makeshift stalls or tarps spread on the ground.
Two jobs to survive
Khartoum, where entire neighborhoods have been damaged by the fighting, is no longer threatened by the mass starvation that stalks battlefield cities and displacement camps elsewhere in Sudan.
But with the economy a shambles, a good living is still hard to provide.
“People complain about prices, they say it’s too expensive. You can find everything, but the costs keep going up: supplies, labor, transportation,” said Mohamed.
Sudan has known only triple-digit annual inflation for years. Figures for 2024 stood at 151 percent — down from a 2021 peak of 358 percent.
The currency has also collapsed, going from trading at 570 Sudanese pounds to the US dollar before the war to 3,500 in 2026, according to the black market rate.
One Sudanese teacher, who only a few years ago could provide comfortably for his two children, told AFP he could no longer pay his rent with a monthly salary of 250,000 Sudanese pounds ($71).
To feed his family, pay for school and cover health care, he “works in the market or anywhere” on his days off.
“You have to have another job to pay for the bare minimum of basic needs,” he said, asking for anonymity to protect his privacy and to avoid “problems with security services.”
Beyond Khartoum, the war still rages, with the RSF in control of much of western and southern Sudan and pushing into the central Kordofan region.
For Adam Haddad, the road to recovery will be a long one.
“We don’t have enough resources or workers or liquidity going through the market,” he said, adding that reliable electricity was still a problem.
“The government is striving to restore everything, and God willing, in the near future, the power will return and Khartoum will become what it once was.”
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