French President Emmanuel Macron’s three-day visit to Morocco this week comes amid France’s bid to mend ties following the recognition in July of Rabat’s sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region.

A royal letter last month inviting the French president to the country by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI aimed to rectify three years of tense ties over Paris’ ambiguous stance over Western Sahara and attempts to reconcile with Algeria, which saw cancelled trips in 2023 and the frosty treatment of Macron by Rabat.

France’s access to Algerian gas is vital and in 2022 represented between 8-9% of all gas exported to France. However, France’s influence in Africa has been waning at a time when Algeria itself is losing influence in the Sahel.

As a result, building bridges with Algeria without burning those with Morocco has become French President Emmanuel Macron’s “diplomatic mission impossible”.

Since the 2020 signing of the Abraham Accords between Morocco and Israel, the kingdom has gained increased confidence among allies, despite the unpopularity of normalisation domestically and fears that Israel’s war in Gaza will make future deals increasingly difficult.

This has included contracts for up to 250 Israeli-made defence drones to be produced in Morocco and the promise of access to Israeli surveillance satellites, which could further tip the scales in Rabat’s favour in the Western Sahara.