Hajar ben hosain
The 2025 edition of the annual report on Africa’s geopolitics, developed by the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS), and led by Abdelhak Bassou, offers an in -depth analysis of continental dynamics, with a particular accent on the Moroccan initiative for Atlantic Africa.
Among the six chapters devoted to the theme, that written by Driss Alaoui Belghiti and Fatim Zohra Azouzou asks the question: “The Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa: a geopolitical engine for the integration of Atlantic Africa? ». According to the media, this central chapter explores the geostrategic trajectories of three African regional powers which, although distinct, have significant points of convergence. Morocco, according to the report, a pioneer in the structuring of an integrated vision of the African Atlantic, offers diplomacy based on South-South solidarity and cooperation. Its strategy, in three phases, first consisted in strengthening bilateral links with historically close African countries. Then, he adopted economic diplomacy to forge new partnerships based on common interests. His return to the African Union in 2017 marked a multilateral phase, illustrated in particular by the request for membership in ECOWAS.
The Moroccan regional integration ambition responds to a more focused on security and energy approach on the part of Nigeria. According to the document, since independence, Abuja has built its foreign policy on an Afro -Centured vision, betting on the Gulf of Guinea as a key space of its sovereignty. Nigeria has implemented concrete measures, such as the Yaoundé code of conduct (2013) or the Deep Blue (2021) program, which aims to secure its coasts using advanced technological means. This pragmatic orientation reflects a desire to stabilize the region while exploiting the energy potential of its maritime facade.
In addition, the report notes that South Africa, on the other hand, develops a more nuanced Atlantic posture. Long turned to the Indian Ocean, Pretoria begins to enhance its Atlantic facade, rich by more than 1,500 km of coastline and with a promising exclusive economic zone. The Operation Phakisa initiative (2014), inspired by Malaysia, aims to energize the South African blue economy.
A trio with cross interests
Despite these disparities, the authors of this report identify three axes of complementarity between these nations, in particular maritime security, logistics infrastructure and energy integration. In terms of security, a division of labor is emerging: Nigeria acts as a regulator of the Atlantic Center-Western, Morocco projects its security strategy on the North West, and South Africa favors an opening to the Global South. On the logistics level, (triptych-Tangier Med in the North, Lagos-Lekki at the center, Durban-Le Cap southern-) represents a potential architecture of intra-African connectivity, although hampered by the lack of harmonization of standards and customs convergence.
Likewise, according to the analysis, the most eloquent illustration of this emerging cooperation is the project of Nigeria-Maroc gas pipeline, 5,600 km long, which crosses 13 West African countries. This project, both energetic and geopolitical, repositions Morocco as a bridge between Africa and Europe, while affirming the central role of Nigeria within ECOWAS. Even if South Africa is not part of it, it retains an integration potential via its capacities in renewable energies.
However, the ambition of Atlantic integration comes up against several structural obstacles. Depending on the publication, leadership rivalries, divergent positions on sensitive files such as Moroccan Sahara, and contradictory diplomatic inheritances slow down the construction of a common order. Pretoria’s persistent support at Pseudo-Rasd is head-to-opposition to the sovereign position of Morocco on its southern provinces, crystallizing deep tensions and hampering bilateral cooperation in multilateral forums.
