Morocco is pulling more countries to its side against Algeria in one of Africa’s long-running territorial disputes

More countries across the Gulf and Sub-Saharan Africa have expressed support for Morocco regarding its plan to annex the Western Sahara region, notwithstanding the competing claim asserted by Algeria.

• Several Gulf and Sub-Saharan African countries have recently expressed support for Morocco's plan to grant autonomy to Western Sahara, backing it over Algeria's rival claim.
• Countries like Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, and Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait have publicly reaffirmed support for Morocco’s initiative.
• The Moroccan Autonomy Plan envisions Western Sahara as an autonomous region within Morocco, granting it extensive decentralized powers.
• Recent international endorsements include Denmark, Greece, and U.S. federal support for a major green energy project in the region.

Some of the Sub-Saharan countries now on Morocco’s side include Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Peru, and Gabon, while Gulf countries that have reaffirmed support for Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait.

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According to Burkina Faso’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN, Saïdou Zongo, Morocco’s plan for the disputed region presents a “basis for a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable” solution.

Burkina Faso’s sentiment towards the subject was highlighted during the recent sessions of the United Nations General Assembly, where the country’s Foreign Affairs Minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré reaffirmed commitment to the UN-led negotiation process.

In his address to the assembly, Traoré stated, "We encourage the continuation of efforts to reach a negotiated political solution between the parties pursuant to relevant resolutions of the Security Council".

As reported by MoroccoWorldNews, Côte d’Ivoire also relayed the same opinion, commending the growing international momentum in support of the Moroccan Autonomy Plan.

Côte d’Ivoire’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Tiémoko Moriko, affirmed that his nation commends the growing international momentum in favor of Morocco’s Autonomy Plan, reiterating Côte d’Ivoire’s resolute backing and support for the initiative.

According to Gabon’s representative to the UN, Morocco’s Autonomy Plan “constitutes a serious and credible basis for reaching a negotiated solution that respects the territorial integrity of Morocco.”

Over the last few months, Morocco has seen more countries take its side over Algeria as it increasingly lays claim to the thin strip of land via several economic projects.

Very recently, the Royal Moroccan Army successfully cleared approximately 268.97 million square meters of hazardous land in Western Sahara.

Since the start of the year, military clearance teams have dismantled 44 anti-personnel landmines, five anti-tank mines, and 264 items of explosive ordnance located west of the territory.

In September, Denmark and Greece formally declared their support for Morocco’s Western Sahara autonomy initiative.

The initiative stipulates that the Sahara would operate as an "autonomous region within the Moroccan state," granting the territory extensive decentralized administrative, political, and economic powers.

In July, the US disclosed that it would be providing its first federal backing for a green energy project in Western Sahara, supporting a proposed $4.5 billion green ammonia facility in the disputed region.

Morocco and Algeria’s dispute over Western Sahara

The dispute over Western Sahara between Morocco and Algeria constitutes one of Africa’s longest-running and most complex territorial conflicts.

Western Sahara, a huge, thinly populated territory on Africa's Atlantic coast, roughly the size of the United Kingdom, has remained disputed since the Cold War era.

Morocco annexed the territory after Spain withdrew in 1975, and fighting between Moroccan forces and Polisario killed about 9,000 people over 16 years.

A UN-brokered truce in 1991 promised a referendum on self-determination, but more than three decades later, the vote has yet to take place.

The ceasefire that largely held for three decades collapsed in late 2020, raising concerns about renewed conflict.

The dispute has also drawn in external powers, with countries backing opposing sides.