An African mechanism for the development of territories is being prepared in Rabat

The second edition of the International Future-Territories Forum (FIATERR) opens this Tuesday, February 13, in Rabat. The focus will be on innovative and realistic ideas and solutions to address the numerous challenges facing African local communities.

Following the first edition of FIATERR held in Paris in 2022, the International Future-Territories Forum is taking place in Rabat. Organized by the Association of Regions of Morocco, the African University of Sciences and Technology (Dakar), and the International University of Rabat, this forum aims to be a "platform for reflection and exchange of experience."

In addition to taxation experts, decentralization specialists, and academics, associations of local elected officials from Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Morocco are participating in this event, as well as organizations involved in territorial development and decentralized cooperation, including deposit funds.

After the 2022 edition, which focused on "the digitization of territories," the 2024 edition is centered on "Territorial Development Financing."

The organizers indicate that during this forum, territorial development financing will be reconsidered with a view to "providing more direct and significant access for local communities and territorial actors to national public funding (state transfers, local taxation), international financing (development banks, multilateral and bilateral partners), innovative financing (green financing...), and resources from decentralized cooperation."

It has also been specified that the ambition of the participants is to launch an initiative aimed at creating an "African mechanism for territorial development."

One of the major problems identified is the absence of dedicated organizations for financing territorial communities in sub-Saharan Africa. This "demonstrates and justifies the relevance and urgency of establishing a new legal and institutional vehicle in the form of a territories bank, which would propose, at the sub-regional or regional level, financing solutions more suited to the needs and profile of territorial communities," underscore the organizers.