Background
Aziz Mekouar is the grandson of Ahmed Mekouar, Moroccan nationalist, and the son of Ambassador Tahar Mekouar, and Aïcha Benjelloun.
Aziz Mekouar is the grandson of Ahmed Mekouar, Moroccan nationalist, and the son of Ambassador Tahar Mekouar, and Aïcha Benjelloun.
Aziz Mekouar attended the Lycée Français Chateaubriand in Rome, the Lycée Français Charles Lepierre in Lisbon, followed by his preparatory classes at Lycée Louis le Grand, and obtained a graduate degree from HEC Paris in 1974.
He is fluent in Arabic, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Aziz Mekouar (born 13 November 1950, Fes) is a Moroccan diplomat, who served as Ambassador in China (since 2018), the United States of America (2002-2011, becoming the Moroccan Ambassador with the longest mandate in Washington), Italy (1999-2002), Portugal (1993-1999), and Angola (1986-1993). He also served as Independent Chairman of the Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and as a special adviser to the Presidency at the Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur (BMCE) and board member at the Bank of Africa. He was appointed in 2016 by the King of Morocco on the Steering Committee as Ambassador to Multilateral Negotiations of COP22. In 2008, Mekouar was appointed board member of Amorfix Life Sciences, a theranostics company developing therapeutic products and diagnostic devices targeting misfolded protein diseases including ALS, cancer, and Alzheimer's disease.
He participated in the negotiation of the Morocco and United States free trade agreement and the Millennium Challenge Account wherein the United States granted United States $697 million for Moroccan development projects.
During his career, Ambassador Mekouar has also held other positions of responsibility, including: Minister plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in Morocco (1985-1986) Permanent representative of Morocco to the International Bureau for Information Technology (1978-1985). First counselor and deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of Morocco in Rome (1977-1985). Chairman of the Financial Committee of the Food and Agriculture Organization (Food and Agriculture Organization). Member and Head of Moroccan Delegations to several international conferences (1999 – 2005). Chairman of the African Group of the United Nations organizations in Rome (2000-2005).
Aziz Mekouar is a member of the highly aristocratic Mekouar family from Fes, which includes historical figures such as Hajj Taoudi Mekouar (d. 1189), Hajj Mohamed Mekouar (d. 1263), and Hajj Haddou Mekouar (d. 1232) who founded a rich lineage of prominent figures in government and business throughout the history of the country, and who were granted ‘Dahir’ privileges from several dynasties of sultans.
Aziz Mekouar is the grandson of the Moroccan nationalist Hajj Ahmed Mekouar (1892-1988), who is best known for being the first person to sign the Proclamation of Independence from the French, a ceremony that took place in the Mekouar Palace in Fes. He is the great-great-grandson of Hajj Ahmed Mekouar (1819-1886), Honorary Consul of Great-Britain and owner of a sugar and textile trade conglomerate with France and the United Kingdom, and the great-grandnephew of Minister of Foreign Affairs Hajj Mohammed Mekouar. Aziz is the son of Hajj Tahar Mekouar, who served as Ambassador in Lisbon and Rome then as Director of Protocol for International Affairs to King Hassan II, and Hajjah Aïcha Benjelloun. Through his mother, he is the grandson of the former minister of Finance and minister of Justice Abdelkader Benjelloun, and the nephew of business magnate Othman Benjelloun. His maternal grandmother came from the Khrifia lineage of descendants of the Prophet Mohammed.
He is married to Italian aristocrat Marquise Maria Felice Cittadini Cesi and has one son.
Aziz Mekouar is a member of several clubs, such as the Metropolitan Club in Washington DC and Chevy Chase Club in Bethesda MD.