In late May, North African media reported an unexpected announcement from Tunisian President Kais Saied. Saied's proposal for a new Secretary-General for the Arab Maghreb Union had been approved by the leaders of the five-member union: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania.
The decision aligned with the provisions of the Marrakech Treaty, which designated Tunisia as the Secretary-General of the Maghreb Union, which is headquartered in Rabat, the Moroccan capital.
Analysts interpreted the Tunisian initiative as a rebellion against Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune’s proposal to establish a new bloc comprising Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia but excluding Morocco and Mauritania.
Risking fragmentation
This idea of a separate Maghreb ‘bloc’ emerged during a meeting in March on the sidelines of a gas summit in Algeria, attended by Saied and Libyan Council President Mohamed Younes al-Menfi. It aimed to create a nucleus for a distinct regional alliance with different structures and objectives and coincided with the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Arab Maghreb Union.
Yet a swift succession of regional, Arab, and international events—including the Gaza conflict, Middle Eastern tensions, and the Ukraine war—challenged the practicality and timing of the Algerian initiative.
More broadly, such endeavours risk exacerbating fragmentation within the Maghreb and the broader Arab world, increasing vulnerability to external shocks, from geopolitical realignment to the resurgence of far-right extremism in Europe. This includes the intensifying competition between foreign powers across Africa, notably impacting the Sahel countries on the southern periphery of the Maghreb.
Chance to revitalise
The appointment of Tunisian diplomat Tarek Ben Salem as the new secretary-general has sparked hope of averting further escalation in the region and of revitalising the union, previously characterised as stagnant or defunct. The positive response underscores sentiments and aspirations for unity, even amid diplomatic conflicts, political hostilities, and military tensions.
The union was formed in Marrakech in the late 1980s during the reigns of Morocco’s King Hassan II, Algeria’s President Chadli Bendjedid, and Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, which later became known as an era of relative consensus. However, Algeria’s government has most recently expressed discontent with the union, which it sees as offering a regional advantage to its rival, Morocco.
