The Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday inaugurated its consulate general in Dakhla, cementing its traditional support for Morocco’s territorial integrity.

Nasser Bourita, Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation , was at Western Sahara to open the new consulate general with his Congolese counterpart, Marie Tumba Nzeza.

The news comes amid an extremely busy schedule for Moroccan diplomacy, with Bourita travelling over the past days and weeks to the southern provinces to inaugurate a growing list of consulates in southern Morocco.

On Monday this week, Bourita inaugurated Bahrain’s consulate in Dakhla. On Friday, the Moroccan FM again travelled south for another ribbon cutting ceremony in the form of a new AU office in the region.

On a crisp Saturday morning, Bourita and DR Congo’s Marie Tumba Nzeza opened the DR Congo’s brand new consulate general in the beach resort town of Dakhla.

In their inauguration speeches, the two diplomats emphasized that DR Congo’s Dakhla consulate constitutes a vibrant reaffirmation of the Central Africcan country’s support for Morocco’s Autonomy proposal as the most viable basis of the UN political process.

The new Congolese consulate joins 18 already established consulates in the Western Sahara.

The city of Dahla alone now hosts diplomatic missions of Gambia, Guinea, Djibouti, Liberia, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso and Haiti. In addition, the region’s capital Laayoune  is home to the consulates of the Comoros, Gabon, the Central African Republic,Sao Tome, Ivory Coast, Burundi, the UAE, Eswatini, Zambia and the newly inaugurated mission of Bahrain.

The new consulate is further evidence of Morocco’s positive diplomacy by promoting mutual development and economic agreements with its “brotherly” African nations. After years of absence from the African Union, Morocco has swiftly regained momentum in Africa, exemplified Algeria’s dwindling prominence in continental affairs..

The recent US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara grabbed headlines across the world, yet the diplomatic efforts by Morocco in Africa could prove even more significant.