Kenya has adopted a new business stance towards Morocco following newly-sworn in President William Ruto’s decision to rescind recognition of the disputed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), also known as Western Sahara, according to a report by The North Africa Post, citing Kenya’s Business Today newspaper.
Ruto wants to accelerate economic relations with Morocco, particularly in the areas of trade, agriculture, health, tourism, and energy, among others, and has taken the position that the United Nations’ framework is the exclusive mechanism for dispute resolution over any territorial issues, according to the report.
The move also comes at a time of much tighter global fertilizer supplies and higher prices, impacted in part to sanctions on exports from Russia and Belarus, as well as fewer exports from China.
Morocco has controlled around three-quarters of Western Sahara since 1975, and claims the sparsely populated region as its own. The claim is bitterly opposed by the Western Sahara Polisario Independence Movement, which still controls the remainder of Western Sahara.
In his first full day in office on Sept. 13, Ruto publicly pledged to lower the price of fertilizer from the current Ksh6,100 to Ksh3,600 (approximately $50.2 to $29.6 at current exchange rates) per 50-kg bag, with the aim of improving the country’s food production and security. According to the report, Kenya will import 1.4 million bags of fertilizer from Morocco, with longer term arrangements being sought.
For its part, Morocco considers Kenya as “an outstanding nation” with which it can establish economic cooperation, especially in the fields of agriculture, health, and tourism, and in the coming years, Kenyan tea (a major export) “will be very present” in Morocco, according to the report, citing experts.