The king of Morocco has reiterated his commitment to nurturing good relations with Algeria, in a speech marking his 26th anniversary on the throne.
"Morocco is open to sincere dialogue with Algeria over a number of topics," King Mohammed VI said.
Morocco's administration of the Sahara region has strained relations with its neighbour. Algeria rejects Moroccan sovereignty over the region and cut diplomatic relations with Morocco in 2021.
In his Throne Day speech, King Mohammed VI said his “position is clear” when it comes to Algeria.
“The Algerian people are a sibling nation, who share with the people of Morocco deep-rooted human and historical ties,” the monarch said. “The two people are connected through language, religion, geography and a shared fate.”
King Mohammed VI said his country's commitment to extending a hand to Algeria comes from believing in their “unity and ability to overcome this tragic situation”.
Last month, the UK backed Morocco's plan for the Sahara region to have autonomy under the country's sovereign rule, reversing Britain's long-standing position. London previously backed self-determination for the region, which Morocco has said is an integral part of its kingdom.
The UK's shift made it the third permanent member of the UN Security Council to back Morocco's position, after France and the US. Spain and Germany also back the autonomy plan.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy called Morocco’s plan “the most credible, viable and pragmatic” path forward.
The plan, presented to the UN Security Council in 2007, allows the region to have autonomy under Morocco's sovereign rule. It would have its own parliament and manage its budget, while Rabat would maintain overall sovereignty and control over defence and foreign relations. The region would retain the Moroccan flag, national anthem and currency.
Algeria said it “regrets” Britain's decision and criticised the autonomy plan, calling it “empty of content”.
The UN has classified the Sahara region, home to more than 600,000 people, as a “non-self-governing territory” since 1963 and says the issue needs to be resolved through a political process involving all parties.
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The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
'Young girls thinking of big ideas'
Words come easy for aspiring writer Afra Al Muhairb. The business side of books, on the other hand, is entirely foreign to the 16-year-old Emirati. So, she followed her father’s advice and enroled in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s summer entrepreneurship course at Abu Dhabi University hoping to pick up a few new skills.
“Most of us have this dream of opening a business,” said Afra, referring to her peers are “young girls thinking of big ideas.”
In the three-week class, pupils are challenged to come up with a business and develop an operational and marketing plan to support their idea. But, the learning goes far beyond sales and branding, said teacher Sonia Elhaj.
“It’s not only about starting up a business, it’s all the meta skills that goes with it -- building self confidence, communication,” said Ms Elhaj. “It’s a way to coach them and to harness ideas and to allow them to be creative. They are really hungry to do this and be heard. They are so happy to be actually doing something, to be engaged in creating something new, not only sitting and listening and getting new information and new knowledge. Now they are applying that knowledge.”
Afra’s team decided to focus their business idea on a restaurant modelled after the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each level would have a different international cuisine and all the meat would be halal. The pupils thought of this after discussing a common problem they face when travelling abroad.
“Sometimes we find the struggle of finding halal food, so we just eat fish and cheese, so it’s hard for us to spend 20 days with fish and cheese,” said Afra. “So we made this tower so every person who comes – from Africa, from America – they will find the right food to eat.”
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Founders: Michele Ferrario, Nino Ulsamer and Freddy Lim
Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
Based: Singapore, with offices in the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand
Sector: FinTech, wealth management
Initial investment: $500,000 in seed round 1 in 2016; $2.2m in seed round 2 in 2017; $5m in series A round in 2018; $12m in series B round in 2019; $16m in series C round in 2020 and $25m in series D round in 2021
Current staff: more than 160 employees
Stage: series D
Investors: EightRoads Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India
