Ghana had supported the Sarahwi Arab Democratic Republic, established by the independence-seeking Polisario Front, since 1979.

But the decades of support and recognition have come to an end: Accra announced on Thursday, following a meeting between the Ghanaian and Moroccan foreign ministers, that it would from now on endorse Rabat’s plan for autonomy of the territory, which is modeled on the concept of Spanish autonomous regions like the Basque Country or Catalonia.