On 09 May 2025, Morocco and Côte d’Ivoire signed the first ever Military Cooperation Agreement between the two nations since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1962. The Ivorian Minister of State, Minister of Defence, Téné Birahima Ouattara, and the Moroccan Minister Delegate to the Head of Government, in charge of National Defence Administration, Abdellatif Loudiyi, signed a military cooperation agreement covering, among other things, training, joint training and military health.
This is the first military cooperation agreement between Côte d’Ivoire and the Kingdom of Morocco since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1962. It was initialled by the Ivorian Defence Minister, Téné Birahima Ouattara, on a working visit to Morocco, and his Moroccan counterpart, Abdeltif Loudyi, Minister Delegate to the Head of Government, in charge of National Defence Administration. For the authorities of both nations, this partnership aims to structure fruitful and lasting bilateral South-South cooperation in several areas, including the training of military executives, joint training, military health, technical assistance and exchanges of expertise.
«This is a major issue in the drive to regain African sovereignty, precisely because of partnerships of this kind, which aim to ensure that Africa speaks with itself, that Africa speaks for itself and that Africa decides how it should defend itself, in what interests, from what perspective, without this coming from others, because those who come to defend us in our place will do so primarily for their own interests and not for the interests of Africans.»
Valaire Bougue, Journalist – Cameroon
From the experts’ point of view, it is above all a question of transforming Africa’s Atlantic seaboard in order to create a genuine pole of economic integration, an area of peace, stability and shared prosperity, while facilitating access to this maritime space for the landlocked countries of the Sahel.
«I think that given the fragile security situation in the West African sub-region, particularly in the Sahel, but also in a number of other countries in West Africa, notably northern Togo and Benin, it was more than reasonable and necessary for Abidjan to strengthen its defence system, and as you know, Côte d’Ivoire has tried to tone down its military cooperation with France, notably by renaming Camp de Gaulle Camp Thomas d’Aquin Ouattara. This reduction in cooperation meant that Côte d’Ivoire had to update and reconfigure its military strategy. »
Valaire Bougue, Journalist – Cameroon
This agreement consolidates an already fruitful collaboration. Every year, according to the Moroccan authorities, the Royal Armed Forces welcome more than a hundred Ivorian soldiers and gendarmes for specialised training in some fifteen training centres. To date, nearly 5,000 Ivorian soldiers have been trained in Morocco.
