Morocco’s Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch received Nigerien Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeinen in Rabat on Wednesday during a “working and friendship” visit to Morocco as emissary of General Abdourahamane Tchiani, President of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland and Niger’s Head of State.
During the meeting, the Nigerien Prime Minister conveyed a message from the President of Niger to King Mohammed VI, according to Morocco’s news agency MAP.
While no details about the content of the message have been released, the Nigerien News Agency (ANP) has quoted MAP as saying that Morocco is committed to the royal strategic initiative to facilitate access to its shores for landlocked countries in the Sahel region. These include Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, the three member-states of the Sahel States Alliance, all of which announced their withdrawal from ECOWAS on January 28.
After the July 2023 coup d’état in Niger, Morocco took a neutral position, expressing faith in the ability of the country’s people and institutions to overcome the crisis.
On July 26, 2023, a faction of Nigerien soldiers led by Colonel Amadou Abdramane declared on national television that they had dismantled the constitution, halted all governmental functions, and sealed the country’s borders.