By providing maritime access to Sahelian countries, Morocco is offering a regional and continental model for stability and shared prosperity.
The Atlantic Initiative, launched by King Mohammed VI of Morocco, is beginning to reshape the economic and geostrategic landscape of Africa. This project aims to provide a maritime outlet for Sahelian countries; It stimulates African economic integration by strengthening cooperation between countries in the South, and between countries in the North and South, on the basis of a fair and symmetrical partnership. In addition to this initiative, Morocco is also working on the launch of the Gas Pipeline with Nigeria (GAA), a strategic project that is not separate from the Atlantic Initiative, but rather integrates it. In this context, the AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area) could also be a lever for industrialisation and economic diversification. The aim is to use know-how and expertise for the benefit of the continent.
These dynamics are bringing about multidimensional transformations that necessarily require economic, educational, security, logistical and infrastructure strategies, as well as innovative industrial approaches in a context marked by climate change. How can we move from ‘caravan routes’ to ‘Atlantic highways’ while integrating sustainable development goals?
On a cultural level, African identity can serve as a unifying force between these countries to develop a sense of belonging. With this in mind, the Institute of African Identity is taking action to promote active ownership and engagement among the African populations concerned, particularly young people. These include the promotion of African arts and cultures (art, music, dance, etc.).
South-oriented investment
In economic and entrepreneurial terms, Morocco’s southern provinces are now emerging as a major attraction for international investors. The increasing number of visits by business delegations is testimony to this growing interest. With modern infrastructure and strong political will, these provinces offer a dynamic and promising economic environment. They aim to become the ‘African California’.
Italians, Americans, British and French investors are showing a strong desire to invest there, banking on natural resources, geostrategic positioning and the prospects offered by the New Development Model launched by the Kingdom.
As for the United States, the flagship project of Soluna Technologies, which is mobilising $2.5 billion for a 900 MW wind farm to power data centres, illustrates the American desire to make the Moroccan Sahara a continental-scale technology hub. In addition, the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab Regional Council and American groups such as Danforth Investors and SEC Newgate US have signed agreements to support sustainable infrastructure and social projects.
On the French side, the Director General of the AFD (French Development Agency), Rémy Rioux, announced in June 2025 in Laâyoune investments of around €150 million in the southern provinces. For its part, TotalEnergies has signed an agreement to produce green hydrogen in Guelmim-Oued Noun, drawing on a combined capacity of one gigawatt of solar and wind energy, mainly for export to Europe.
In addition, the Dakhla-Casablanca power line, supported by AFD and Proparco, embodies this structural cooperation aimed at strengthening North-South energy interconnection, stimulating the country’s industrial integration.
This increase in foreign investment in the southern provinces highlights a convergence of economic and geopolitical interests and confirms the desire to make the Moroccan Sahara an area of stability, innovation and shared prosperity.
In addition to this external dynamic, there are endogenous forces supported and promoted by King Mohammed VI through the New Development Model for the Southern Provinces (NMDPS), which is based on decentralised governance in which local populations actively participate in development. The pace of projects launched in 2015 has remained steady. Ten years after the launch of the New Development Model, the initial budget has been re-evaluated at €8.3 billion.
University exchanges
As part of the AfCFTA dynamic, the southern provinces are playing a growing role in the structuring of trans-Saharan logistics corridors, which will benefit the whole of West Africa and the Sahel countries.
At the academic level, mobility and training programmes for young Africans are being implemented to promote ‘Made in and with Africa’ and thus contribute to the emergence of an integrated and united Atlantic-Sahelian regional space. Since 2023, sixty young African researchers have benefited from mobility grants obtained through the ‘doctoral incubator’ programme offered by the Institut de l’Africanité. As a catalyst for African talent and innovation, young African entrepreneurs have also been able to benefit from financial support through the ‘Passerelle d’Innovation’ programme to undertake an academic trip to Morocco and benefit from a complete immersion in a local academic and research ecosystem.
The transformations underway go beyond simple bilateral logic. They are shaping a new regional and continental model, in which the southern provinces of Morocco are becoming a strategic, economic and geopolitical hub, a catalyst for cooperation, integration and sustainable development.
The challenge now is to give them even greater continental and international visibility. The aim is to become a highly strategic global hub and a solid energy, entrepreneurial and industrial backbone for West Africa and the Sahel.
