The diplomat quoted in this regard the speech of HM King Mohammed VI at the opening of the 15th Summit of the Francophonie in Dakar in 2014 in which the Sovereign recalled that "the French language has brought much to Africa and Asia, the populations of these two continents have actively contributed to the vibrancy and enrichment of French as a language."

In His speech, marked by a plea to remember the values of La Francophonie, notably openness, tolerance, freedom, diversity and sharing, the Sovereign stressed "Africa's contribution today is making it possible for La Francophonie to develop and flourish, not in opposition to globalization, but through it."

Aouad noted that Africa is the continent with the most French speakers and half of the 300 million French-speaking people in the world are African.

Africa is also distinguished by the quality of its contribution to the development of Francophone culture, the diplomat added, quoting Leopold Sedar Senghor, poet and great statesman, to illustrate the contribution of African talent in nourishing this sphere.

She recalled that the Goncourt Prize, the most prestigious in France, was awarded to three Moroccan writers, two in the novel category (Tahar Benjelloun and Leila Slimani) and another to Abdellatif Laabi, in the poetry category.

"Certainly, the French language has had an undeniable influence on the vernacular languages of some countries, but it has also been influenced by other languages, such as Arabic," she said.