Territorial dispute

US lobbying: Morocco worries Biden will flip Western Sahara policy

This article is part of the dossier: Africa’s Top 10 lobbying operations in Washington, D.C

By Julian Pecquet
Posted on Monday, 21 February 2022 09:16, updated on Thursday, 17 March 2022 15:34

Barra Mebarak, 22, a fighter who joined the Polisario forces in 2012, is seen at a forward base on the outskirts of Tifariti, Western Sahara, September 9, 2016. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

After scoring a major diplomatic victory under President Donald Trump, the Moroccan government is determined to avoid any backpedaling by Congress and the new White House.

Since November 2021, the Embassy of Morocco has hired no fewer than three lobbying firms – Akin Gump, Brownstein Hyatt and Yorktown Solutions – for a total of $150,000 per month after going without representation for months. A fourth firm, Holly Strategies, is working as a subcontractor for Brownstein Hyatt.

.no-script-hidden { display: none }

Your browser could not fetch this story

If you are reading this message your browser has Javascript disabled. Please enable Javascript in order to access to this story.

GERD glad-handing

US lobbying: Egypt looks for support in Nile dam dispute with Ethiopia

To kick off our series on the top 10 lobbying operations by African actors in the United States, we look at the attempt by Egypt to slow the operations of Ethiopia's GERD dam project on the Nile. Just days after Biden's victory, Egypt's Ambassador to DC hired former congressman Ed Royce of US law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck at $65k a month to lobby congress.

Kinshasa on K Street

US lobbying: DRC’s Fayulu and Katumbi campaign in rematch against Tshisekedi

Call it déjà vu all over again. DRC's last presidential election had sparked a pricey three-way lobbying battle between Félix Tshisekedi, Martin Fayulu and Moise Katumbi as each candidate sought to get the US in his corner. Now all three of them are back at it as next year’s rematch shapes up to be another lucrative opportunity for the influence industry.

Addis after AGOA

In the final chapter of our Top 10 African lobbying campaigns to watch, we look at how the government of Angola is spending around $4m per year on lobbying – more than any other African government by far – to draw US support for President João Lourenço’s financial reforms.