Kuwait draws Moroccan ire as other Arabs boycott African-Arab Summit

Kuwaiti Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al Sabah pledged $1 billion in low-interest loans and an equivalent for direct investment in Africa during a speech to the fourth African-Arab Summit held in Equatorial Guinea, as other Arab leaders boycotted the summit in solidarity with Morocco.

Al Sabah added that Kuwait had taken strong strides to further develop Africa in cooperation with regional and international bodies and organisations, noting that Kuwait had been dealing with many African countries’ funding requests to finance development projects.

“We are very aware that achieving developmental goals in Africa will not happen without attracting foreign investments,” Al Sabah said, calling on all nations to push for “real” partnership with the continent.

Meanwhile, however, other Arab countries stood by Morocco who led a boycott of the summit on Tuesday. Morocco, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Yemen, and Somalia withdrew their participation to protest the presence of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).

SADR are a separatist group who claim that Morocco’s Western Sahara should secede from the kingdom and gain independence. Rabat claims sovereignty over the Western Sahara.