Dear participants and partners of the Africa Security Forum,

As Chairman of the Africa Security Forum, it is with great honor and deep gratitude that I welcome you to our 2023 Edition. Our forum is the open activity of Think Tank Atlantis, and our mission is to serve as an incubator for ideas and the sharing of expertise between players on the African continent.

Faced with the complex security challenges facing our continent, we are committed to providing decision-makers with innovative and viable responses. Our action is based on the principle of collective reflection, where we offer a unique space for meetings and exchanges of ideas, concepts and positions.

The Africa Security Forum is fully committed to respecting the values recognized by the international community, by strictly adhering to rigorous ethical rules. Our aim is to actively participate in the publication of analytical and informative documents and proposals for action, in collaboration with teams of academics, researchers and specialists recognized for their expertise.

After a period marked by the silence imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, our ambition for the 2023 Edition is to continue to offer a different and modern setting, enabling our participants – whether experts, stakeholders, institutions or companies – to engage in fruitful exchanges.

This year, we’ll be looking at a crucial topic: “The Russo-Ukrainian conflict and its implications for relations between the West and the rest of the world, particularly with the African Continent.” While the conflict continues, Africa is directly concerned, and our continent must make its voice heard on issues of sovereignty and unity.

As Chairman of the Africa Security Forum, I encourage you all to take an active part in our debates and discussions, for it is together that we will forge solutions for a secure and prosperous future in Africa.

The organization of these thematic forums that punctuate our work requires the support and backing of Groups and Companies, as well as patrons who feel concerned by the echo chamber that our transcontinental forum constitutes. Without their contributions, the task would be far more arduous and the audience more limited.

That’s why the logistical support and intellectual contribution you will provide us with will bear witness to the relevance of this alliance between the world of thought and that of big business, and to the power of the synergies that are being harnessed for the benefit of this approach.

This year’s event promises to be a special one, with a new format and a return to the original format, as it will once again take place in Casablanca, the kingdom’s economic capital.

The new format is intended to be more eco-responsible, more mindful of its carbon footprint, and adapted to the economic constraints of the moment linked to the effects of both the pandemic and the war threatening the European continent, but not only. In place of the usual large gatherings, we’re going to offer a smaller format of participants who will debate three topical themes, which will then be widely disseminated on social networks and information and influence media.

The Forum’s ambition, after this period of silence imposed by COVID, is to continue to offer participants (experts, speakers, institutions, companies…) the opportunity to exchange views in a different, modern setting. This posture is also for us a means of “Participating in Africa’s resilience to the impacts of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, the subject of the 2023 Edition.

Thank you for your commitment,

Driss Benomar
President of the Africa Security Forum