Administrator Samantha Power at a Press Conference

ADMINISTRATOR SAMANTHA POWER: Good afternoon, everyone. Let me first thank His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Prime Minister [Aziz] Akhannouch and Foreign Minister [Nasser] Bourita, whom I just had a lengthy and very productive discussion with. But let me also thank the people of Morocco, whose reputation for warmth and hospitality precedes them. But my trip here has exceeded even all of my very, very high expectations for that warmth and hospitality. What a remarkable country. What a very rewarding experience I've had here over the last few days engaging with the leadership and with the people of this country. 

I have had the chance, I think, in my time here to see many, many testaments to the great friendship between the United States and the Kingdom of Morocco. A friendship that, as most people know, dates back not just decades, but centuries. 

In 1777, Morocco became the first nation to recognize the brand-new United States – welcoming ships bearing the American flag into its ports, appointing a consul in the King’s court for underrepresented nations like the United States, and recognizing our sovereignty long before other nations did the same. Morocco’s support lent legitimacy to our new nation, helping to pave the way for increased international trade and greater economic prosperity for Americans – and eventually, widespread global recognition of U.S. sovereignty. 

Since then, our two nations have enjoyed a deep, enduring friendship, in which the United States has worked hard to understand and support the most urgent priorities of the people of Morocco – from helping construct dams to conserve water and irrigate farmlands, to providing quality healthcare for Moroccan mothers and newborns, to strengthening the quality and accessibility of education for millions of Moroccan students, to supporting the governance, education, and development reforms being spearheaded by His Majesty King Mohammed VI.

And we have stood by one another in our times of greatest need. Most recently, in the wake of last year’s devastating earthquake, which claimed nearly 3,000 lives here in Morocco and displaced hundreds of thousands more. During my visit, I had the opportunity to visit some of the hardest-hit communities in Aghbalou, near the epicenter – communities who have lost homes and livelihoods and families who have lost loved ones. But what I found especially moving was how these communities are banding together, building solidarity with one another, and helping one another rebuild and recover. I’m honored that USAID, in close coordination with the Government of Morocco, is supporting them, from helping rebuild schools to increasing economic opportunities for women, particularly those from underserved communities. This, to me, is what friendship means – showing up for one another, being there to seize opportunities but also being there when shocks occur, when disasters strike, and to help each other emerge stronger on the other side of any particular shock or any particular crisis.

But as Morocco showed the United States all those years ago, friendship also means supporting one another’s efforts to chart brighter futures for our respective people. And that is exactly why I came to Morocco – to hear directly from communities as to their greatest challenges, and to better support, often in just catalytic ways, to better support their efforts to meet those challenges.

Over the course of my trip, I heard two main priorities from communities as to how they are charting brighter futures for themselves – first, by better harnessing the talent and potential of a growing youth population, and second, they want to adapt to the realities of a changing climate. They want to be better prepared for drought – they want at their disposal climate smart agriculture, and not just the tools and methods used in previous years.

As the population of Moroccans under the age of 30 continues to grow, USAID is supporting Moroccan organizations who are working to better meet their needs. That means, of course, trying to spur jobs and to improve education. But young people also need more ways to build their own identities and feel connected to their communities. Football, Morocco’s national sport, is an example of a very valuable tool. So, the Government of Morocco and FORSATY Plus are joining efforts to offer Moroccan boys and girls the opportunity to participate in team sports in order to build their confidence, and their social and their life skills – and as I can tell you firsthand from having played some of those kids yesterday, Moroccans are a force of nature on the field.

But as Morocco’s leaders have already recognized, Morocco’s young people – along with women and communities of individuals with disabilities – also offer valuable talents and ideas that can help their country address some of the challenges that are coming. Chief among them, of course, is climate change. The Kingdom of Morocco already has an impressive legacy of climate leadership, with nearly half of all electricity here already coming from renewable sources of energy. Now, Morocco is applying that same expertise to helping communities better adapt, again, to the climate that is coming, and the climate that for many communities is already upon us. 

Yesterday, I had the great privilege to launch USAID/Morocco’s brand-new climate portfolio, which will support those efforts – especially in agricultural communities, where livelihoods are deeply affected by changing weather patterns.

I announced a new program that, in partnership with UM6P, is going to provide cash grants to more than 1,000 rural agricultural cooperatives and entrepreneurs. Money that is going to help them continue their efforts to improve water and energy efficiency, to upcycle plastics and metals, and to adopt sustainable agricultural practices that allow farmers a better chance of growing their yields, notwithstanding the hotter climate that is confronting so many.

Today, I am pleased to announce a new partnership between USAID and OCP – the OCP Group, Morocco's fertilizer producer – a company that is known near and far for its fertilizer. And a company that has been an important partner to USAID and to the United States as we grapple with a very, very significant global food crisis. 

Earlier this month, at the African Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit, USAID announced $40 million to expand something called the Space to Place Program. This is a program that uses geospatial technology to provide farmers on the ground with recommendations on how to more efficiently use fertilizer. It harnesses data to provide real world predictions and solutions to improve yields. Now, with this new partnership with OCP, OCP is investing an additional $30 million in the program – Space to Place – which is going to help more farmers conserve crucial resources as well as reduce pollution from fertilizer runoff. 

America has never forgotten Morocco’s historic support for our sovereignty way back in 1777 – the way this nation recognized the United States, before anyone else in the world did. And in recognizing our country, it didn’t just recognize us diplomatically, it recognized our right to freely chart our own course, our own future. For centuries since, we have strived to do the same – to support Moroccan communities as they work to address the challenges they face, as they build toward a future that is brighter for all. 

Thank you so much.

QUESTION: So my question is how do you view the role of Morocco in Africa – and His Majesty in Africa and in the Middle East. Thank you.

ADMINISTRATOR POWER: Thank you so much. Well, as it happens, we just had a lengthy discussion with the Minister, Minister Bourita, on exactly this question. Much of Africa is looking to accelerate the transition to renewable energy. Already in Morocco, 40 percent of energy is coming from renewable sources. The Moroccan model has a lot to teach. If you look at efforts to empower young people, and to prevent the rise of extremist forces, Morocco has made tremendous strides, and a lot of countries are grappling with challenges with figuring out how to absorb and nurture large populations of young people. This is something that we think there is a lot to talk about with third countries.

I mentioned the Space to Place fertilizer partnership that we are announcing today with OCP. OCP is an important Moroccan company, obviously has done incredibly important things within Morocco's own borders. But maybe Moroccans aren't as aware how important OCP has been since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the spike in global fertilizer prices, and making its fertilizer available sometimes for free, sometimes at a discount, and partnering with USAID as we seek to make sure that it isn't middlemen who profit from this influx of Moroccan fertilizer, but rather that it is the vulnerable small scale farmers who are struggling with inflation and the growing price of of inputs. 

So those are just, I think, a few examples. With regard to the Middle East, we spoke at length as well about the crisis in Gaza and the humanitarian suffering that is occurring there. We commended His Majesty the King, for the generous humanitarian contributions that have been made to the Gaza people and for Morocco's leadership as well in the broader Middle East, pushing for a political solution to this conflict. And of course, urging what the United States has been working for for many months, which is an immediate ceasefire. 

So we think, given all that Morocco is achieving within its own borders, in terms of reform, in terms of development, that it has an enormous amount to offer beyond its borders, both in Africa and in the Middle East.