How the Sahara Dispute Stalls Maghreb Integration

The Promise of the Arab Maghreb Union

Founded in 1989, the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) brought together Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia with the aim of building economic and eventually political unity across North Africa.

The vision was a regional bloc rivalling other integrated economies, with free movement of goods and people. Instead, the AMU became one of the world's least integrated regions, its institutions effectively frozen.

A Union Rendered Dormant

No AMU heads-of-state summit has been held since 1994, and high-level activity has been minimal for years, leaving the union widely regarded as dormant. The core reason is the rift between Morocco and Algeria over Western Sahara.

The land border between the two countries has been closed since 1994, forcing trade between neighbours to route through distant ports such as Marseille rather than crossing directly, an absurd inefficiency that captures the dispute's regional cost.

The Economic Price of Disunity

The failure of Maghreb cooperation carries a heavy price. Estimates put annual losses from non-integration at well over seven billion dollars, with intra-regional trade making up less than two percent of the bloc's total commerce, among the lowest figures of any region.

Beyond trade, the stalemate hampers joint responses to shared challenges such as energy, migration, water and Sahelian security, leaving each country to manage transnational problems largely on its own.

A Way Forward Tied to the Sahara

Most analysts conclude that meaningful Maghreb integration is impossible while the Sahara dispute and the Morocco–Algeria rivalry remain unresolved. The two files are inseparable.

Morocco argues that its autonomy plan offers a realistic exit that could unlock normalization and regional cooperation. Until Rabat and Algiers find a settlement, however, the Maghreb's economic potential is likely to stay largely untapped.

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