Danish goverment says no to Western Sahara credit
No export credit will be given to Danish companies for projects in Western Sahara, according to the Danish Minister for Trade and Investment.
Published 08 April 2012


The Danish government has stated that it does not wish to support projects in Western Sahara. See statement here (in Danish)

The below story, published by Danish NGO Africa Contact, 31 March 2012

Danish government zigzagging over Western Sahara
By Peter Kenworthy,
Africa Contact

Danish Minister for Trade and Investment, Pia Olsen Dyhr, says that Denmark will not support or subsidize Danish companies that operate illegally in Western Sahara.

A month ago, the Minister was rather less adamant when replying to a letter from Danish solidarity movement, Africa Contact. “The government will not oppose Danish companies operating in areas such as Western Sahara, but the External Action Service is reluctant to actively support such activities.”

In a response to the Danish Committee on Foreign Affairs in March, however, Pia Olsen Dyhr now says that “the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no tax-financed programmes or undertakings that seek to promote Danish business interests in Western Sahara, nor does the Ministry have any plans of such undertakings. Based on a concrete enquiry by the Danish Export Credit Agency (EKF), concerning whether the EKF could risk assess Danish investments in Western Sahara, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs discouraged the EKF from working in areas, such as Western Sahara, where the question of sovereignty is presently unresolved.”

All trade in resources from occupied areas such as Western Sahara, colonised by Morocco since 1975, is illegal under international law (e.g. the UN Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights §1,2) unless the indigenous inhabitants of Western Sahara, the Saharawis, agree to and benefit from such trade.

According to the Saharawis themselves – those from the occupied territories as well as the more than 150.000 Saharawis living in refugee camps in the Algerian dessert – they have neither been asked nor do they benefit from Moroccos selling of their phosphate and fishing quotas, something that is confirmed by Abba Malainin from the Saharawi liberation front, Polisario. “The Saharawis have not been consulted,” he tells Africa Contact.

These claims are supported by a secret statement from the European Parliament’s Legal Service from 2009, which therefore concludes that the much debated fisheries agreement between the EU and Morocco, that allows the EU’s fishing fleet to fish of the shores of Western Sahara, is illegal under present circumstances.

MEPs push back on Commission over Western Sahara in EU–Morocco trade

MEPs from across the political spectrum sharply criticised the European Commission over its handling of EU-Morocco trade relations covering occupied Western Sahara, raising concerns over legality, transparency and an apparent disregard for Parliament’s role.

19 March 2026

SRI update

The following overview enlists stock-exchange registered companies with current or recent operations in occupied Western Sahara. Updated 15 March 2026

15 March 2026

Siemens Energy sidesteps key questions on Western Sahara

At its 2026 Annual General Meeting, Siemens Energy defended its involvement in wind energy projects in occupied Western Sahara.

12 March 2026

Morocco allocates land in occupied Western Sahara to green hydrogen investors

Morocco’s ambitions to become a global green hydrogen powerhouse are accelerating. Yet, Rabat is allocating land in a territory it does not legally own.

20 February 2026