Morocco to return to the African Union after a 32 year absence

Morocco has opted to return to the African Union.

The African Union – which replaced the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 2001 – includes all 54 African states besides Morocco.

The North African state withdrew from the pan-African organization in 1984 after the OAU accepted the separatist Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic as fully-fledged member state. Morocco’s return is to be announced during the on-going African Union heads of government summit taking place in Kigali, Rwanda.

In recent years, several African countries have called upon Morocco to return to its seat at the AU. In May 2015, Senegal’s Foreign Minister Mankeur Ndiaya said that the organization cannot be fully viable of without Morocco. “Morocco is a fully fledged member of the African family, and none has the right to exclude the Kingdom from the AU,” he said during King Mohammed VI’s visit to Senegal.

There has been a substantial amount of diplomatic work done in the background prior to this announcement. Morocco’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Salahedine Mezouar, has been visiting a number of African countries including: Cameroon, Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire), Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, Senegal, Sudan and Tunisia to lay the groundwork to the country’s eventual return to the continental body.