Western Sahara: how Washington and Abu Dhabi finance the economy of an illegal occupation

 Solidarité Maroc, 13/12/2025

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) are preparing to launch a large-scale economic offensive in Western Sahara, a territory classified by the United Nations as a non-self-governing territory and largely occupied by Morocco since 1975. By aligning themselves with the USA, through public financial mechanisms and private companies, Abu Dhabi is contributing to the institutionalisation of illegal economic exploitation, in direct violation of international law.

At the heart of this strategy lies an alliance currently being structured between Emirati sovereign wealth funds, US companies and the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), a US public development finance agency created in 2019. The DFC usually operates in environments considered too risky for the private sector. Its involvement in Western Sahara is specifically aimed at neutralising the legal risk linked to the occupation of the territory.

An economy built against international law

Western Sahara is recognised by the United Nations (UN) as a territory whose decolonisation process has never been completed. In the absence of a self-determination referendum, Morocco has no internationally recognised sovereignty over the territory.

As early as 1975, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) established that no ties of territorial sovereignty exist between Western Sahara and Morocco. Since then, UN and European jurisprudence has been consistent: any exploitation of natural resources in a non-self-governing territory is illegal without the free and explicit consent of the people concerned — in this case, the Sahrawi people.

Yet the projects currently under negotiation:

• are carried out without any consultation of the Sahrawi people,
• completely exclude the Polisario Front, recognised by the UN as the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people,
• rely exclusively on Moroccan institutions imposed in the occupied territory.

United Arab Emirates: investors and political actors

The main Emirati actors involved are two major sovereign wealth funds:

• ADQ (Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company): a public holding company controlling strategic assets of the Emirates.
• ADIA (Abu Dhabi Investment Authority): one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, chaired by Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, brother of Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MbZ).

Both are already deeply embedded in Morocco and are seeking to expand their investments, particularly in renewable energy, presented as “sustainable” and politically acceptable.

Renewable energy as a legal smokescreen

Discussions focus primarily on the development of wind farms in Western Sahara, led by major Emirati companies in the sector:

• Masdar, a public Emirati renewable energy company;
• Amea Power, a private company active in wind and solar energy;
• Taqa (Abu Dhabi National Energy Company), a public energy giant recently partnered with the Moroccan group Nareva, itself controlled by the Moroccan royal holding Al Mada.

The choice of renewable energy is not neutral. It allows illegal exploitation to be concealed behind environmental rhetoric, even though international law makes no distinction between fossil and renewable resources: any exploitation without consent is unlawful.

Local institutions: a façade of legitimacy

Negotiations are conducted with the Regional Investment Centre (CRI) of Dakhla-Oued Edahab, a Moroccan administrative body tasked with promoting investment in the region. Its director, Ahmed Kathir, acts as a local relay for policies decided in Rabat.

These institutions have no international legitimacy. They serve to manufacture an appearance of local governance, designed to circumvent the fundamental requirement of consulting the Sahrawi people.

The central role of the USA

The USA play a decisive role in this dynamic. The DFC has announced funding of up to USD 5 billion to support the establishment of US companies in Dakhla.

At the same time, Washington is preparing to open a consulate in Dakhla, following the visit of a diplomatic delegation. This move extends the unilateral recognition, in 2020, of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara by the Trump administration — a recognition with no international legal value, but with significant political consequences.

A strategy of faits accomplis

Through this convergence between Rabat, Abu Dhabi and Washington, an economy of faits accomplis is taking shape. Its objective is clear: to make Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara irreversible through investment, infrastructure and economic integration.

This strategy aims to hollow out the UN process, marginalise international law, and transform a military occupation into a normalised economic reality.

Shared legal and political responsibility

By engaging in these projects, the United Arab Emirates and the USA expose themselves to indirect legal responsibility by participating in the exploitation of an occupied territory. The companies involved may also face future litigation, as several European groups already have before EU courts.

Far from being a purely economic issue, Western Sahara remains one of the last cases of unfinished decolonisation, where international investment is now being used to circumvent — rather than uphold — the right of peoples to self-determination.