Why UK and Morocco plan to build a 9.4 billion$ undersea tunnel to link Africa to Europe.
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you today on why UK and Morocco plan to build a 4.0 billion$ undersea tunnel to link Africa
to Europe. Britain and Morocco are considering plans
to revive a decades-old project for a tunnel connecting Europe to Africa by linking the
British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar to the northern Moroccan city of Tangier. This
comes Years after the failure of a planned Spanish-Moroccan tunnel project, which aimed
at establishing a physical connection between the two continents is back on the radar. The
UK has seriously embarked on studying the project that will link Europe to Africa, according
to a report by the Arab Weekly. Talk about the first tunnel linking Europe and Africa,
mooted since the late 1800s. First put forward in 1869, a planned 38 km-long tunnel crossing
would link Spain and Morocco through the Strait of Gibraltar from Tarifa to Tangier and was
estimated to cost $9.4 billion. This project could not materialize, due to unsuitable tunneling
terrain and funding problems. However, earlier this year, the project has reportedly resurfaced
post-Brexit as Prime Minister Boris Johnson's cabinet looks for new trade opportunities
and relations. In an interview with Espanol last year, the former British Ambassador in
Rabat, Thomas Riley, said that there were many opportunities to develop ties between
Morocco and Gibraltar. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the British
government is willing to complete an undersea tunnel that will link the UK to the overseas
British-occupied territory of Gibraltar, stretching to Tangier. With a likely chance that trade
relations will develop with Morocco, this project is seriously being studied and considered
according to a report by The Arab Weekly. A partnership agreement was signed in 2020
after the infamous "Brexit”, which stated that Morocco and the UK agreed to see the
Strait of Gibraltar a potential hub for a 38-kilometer tunnel that will end up connecting
the two countries. According to reports, Britain would be thoroughly pleased that this project
is finally getting the go-ahead. Even though Spain was the front-runner for this project
instead of Morocco for many years, yet the project couldn't be green-lit. So now the
British have taken advantage of the situation and have chosen Morocco as Spain’s successor.
RABAT--The British government, led by Boris Johnson, is studying the completion of an
undersea tunnel linking Gibraltar to Tangiers, in partnership with the Moroccan government.
London has seriously embarked on studying a project that will link Europe to Africa,
as trade relations with Morocco are developed. In addition to the partnership agreement signed
in 2020 after Britain’s exit from the European Union, Morocco and the UK see the Strait of
Gibraltar, which is under British sovereignty, becoming the hub for a 28-kilometer tunnel
that connects the two countries. The former British ambassador to Rabat, Thomas Riley,
said in an interview with the newspaper "Espanol" last August, that there are many opportunities
for developing ties between Morocco and Gibraltar, in many areas that should be explored. The
British-Moroccan project would replace the Spanish-Moroccan project, which has been discussed
for more than forty years without any tangible results. A previous Spanish experimental phase
began with the digging of a 600 metre-underground crossing in the city of Cadiz, south of Andalusia,
and just over 200 metres into Morocco. It ended two years later due to floods and maintenance
problems. After Brexit, the British will begin to take over the project and start its development.
The line will connect Europe and Africa via the cities closest to the Rock of Gibraltar.The
tunnel will be built near the port of Tangiers in the Mediterranean, which is the main economic
artery in the Mediterranean. With this project in mind, Boris Johnson intends to visit Rabat
soon to extend the continental connection project via Gibraltar.The project could be
a suspended bridge on fixed pillars, a suspended bridge on floating pillars or a submerged
and supported tunnel on the seabed similar to the tunnel linking Britain and France,
depending on current technologies. At present, the two parties do not formally confirm they
have a realistic plan for the project, but the intention of completing that tunnel or
bridge between Morocco and Gibraltar has been in negotiations since the signing of agreements
between the two countries in October 2019. The first strategic dialogue between the United
Kingdom and Morocco took place in July 2018 in London, and was hosted by then-Minister
of Foreign Affairs Boris Johnson and attended by Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita.
It aimed to strengthen cooperation in the political, economic, cultural, and security
fields. British officials foresee special relations between Morocco and the United Kingdom
if the European Union ratifies the agreements between Spain and the United Kingdom regarding
the future of Gibraltar within the Schengen area. They believe the tunnel could mean the
United Kingdom keeping an open gateway with Europe in direct competition with Algeciras.
Sabri al-Haw, an expert in international law, sees Morocco as a good alternative for Britain
to compensate for agricultural products it used to import from Spain, Portugal, and Italy
after its exit from the European Union. However, Spain does not hide its concern about the
Moroccan-British rapprochement in the event of the implementation of the continental link
project between Gibraltar and Morocco. Speaking to The Arab Weekly, Haw emphasized that close
cooperation with Britain constitutes an economic and political opportunity for Morocco, which
will work on selling its agricultural products and exporting mineral raw materials, provided
that this is done within the framework of strategic agreements where the political return
would be to promote Moroccan territorial integrity. On the commercial level, Morocco and the United
Kingdom agreed in 2019 to maintain Moroccan-European trade ties after Britain’s exit from the
European Union. Besides the trade agreement, the two countries have concluded a number
of deals, including a mutual agreement for the export of products from the Moroccan Sahara
– including fish and phosphates – to the British market. Haw believes that mega projects
such as the continental link between Morocco and Gibraltar would be among the distinct
features of the policies of Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, and would make Morocco the object
of intense competition between Spain and Britain. Morocco will soon start selling clean energy
to Britain and will launch air and sea routes to Gibraltar to facilitate the travel of Moroccans
to the UK-British-controlled strait. Africa is on it feet again, linking Africa
to Europe shows us tthe level of which development is growing in Africa countries. All thanks
to infrastructures. While hoping you must have learn something informative from this
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