Morocco has obtained the "unconditional support" of 42 members of the 54-strong African Union to rejoin the bloc at a summit which opens Monday, a senior Moroccan diplomat said. AU member states are expected to mull Morocco's bid to rejoin during a two-day summit in Addis Ababa, and elect a new chairperson.
Morocco quit the bloc 33 years ago to protest the AU's decision to accept Western Sahara as a member, but it now wants back in and King Mohammed VI has been criss-crossing the continent lobbying for support.
"We've received the official backing of Ghana. This brings to 42 the number of countries that unconditionally support Morocco," the diplomat told AFP Sunday from Addis Ababa.
Morocco's return could be a financial boon for the bloc, which relies on foreign donors for some 70 percent of its budget, according to the Institute for Security Studies.
But heavyweights such as Algeria and South Africa have been lobbying hard to keep Morocco out.
AFP text, photos, graphics and logos shall not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP shall not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP content, or for any actions taken in consequence.
Business Recorder shall not be responsible or held liable for any error of fact, opinion or recommendation and also for any loss, financial or otherwise, resulting from business or trade or speculation conducted, or investments made, on the basis of the information posted here. Nor shall Business Recorder be held liable for any actions taken in consequence." >Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017