Yokohama (Japan) 20 August 2025 (SPS) – The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) asserted its presence at the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Yokohama with unmistakable authority.
Representing the President of the Republic and Secretary-General of the Polisario Front, Mr. Brahim Ghali, the Sahrawi Prime Minister, Mr. Buchraya Hamudi Beyoun, took part at the highest level, joined by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Mohamed Yeslem Beisat, and Ambassador Mr. Lamine Baali, in the opening session alongside the Japanese Prime Minister and the President of Angola, the current Chair of the African Union (AU).
This landmark participation at the summit of heads of state and government has silenced all speculation, reaffirming that the Sahrawi Republic is now an irremovable partner in all continental and international cooperation frameworks to which it is entitled, despite Morocco’s persistent attempts, with the backing of select allies, to marginalize it.
Even before this milestone, the Sahrawi Republic had secured its rightful place in the preparatory stages: Foreign Minister Mohamed Yeslem Beisat, accompanied by the Permanent Representative to the AU, Mr. Lamine Baali, participated in the ministers’ meeting on 19 August, as well as in the earlier experts’ session.
The Japanese hosts extended notable security measures for the Sahrawi delegation, not only safeguarding the official delegates but even protecting the Sahrawi Republic’s nameplate, mindful of Morocco’s previous attempt at TICAD 8 to seize it in a brazen act of sabotage. This symbolic yet firm gesture from Japan underscored its adherence to African Union protocols without compromise.
Once again, Moroccan diplomacy resorted to its familiar tactics of manufactured uproar. Through its ambassador to the AU, it claimed, without foundation, that the Sahrawi Republic was not a legitimate participant. The response, however, was decisive: AU Commission representatives stressed that such disputes must be addressed within the Union’s own institutions, not in an international partnership forum. Isolated and exposed, Morocco found support only from Eswatini and Malawi, while the overwhelming majority of states upheld the inviolable principle of respecting AU decisions and ensuring the participation of all its members.
Morocco’s disappointment deepened when it failed to insert any agenda item challenging the Sahrawi Republic’s participation, neither at the senior officials’ level nor at the ministerial stage.
The 9th TICAD Summit carries far-reaching implications: the Sahrawi Republic has become an entrenched and irreversible participant in all partnerships involving the African Union. The new AU Commission, under the leadership of Mr. Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, has demonstrated a resolute stance against Moroccan blackmail, declaring that the era of political bargaining is over, that African unity is stronger than any schemes of division, and that upholding the Union’s resolutions, especially those governing partnerships, is not merely a matter of procedure, but of credibility and continental dignity. It is inconceivable that Morocco, an occupying power notorious for fracturing African consensus who only joined the Union in 2017, should be allowed to dictate its divisive agenda and in doing so insult the dignity of an entire continent.
Today, as the Sahrawi Prime Minister sits shoulder to shoulder with the leaders of Africa, one truth is reaffirmed: the Sahrawi Republic is not only a legal and political reality within the African Union, but a pivotal and active partner in shaping the future of African and international cooperation.
As for Morocco, it has recorded yet another humiliating diplomatic defeat, adding to its growing litany of failures, and once again departs empty-handed—nursing its wounds like a beast driven back in disgrace. (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
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