Mouride pilgrims abroad get easier Touba travel ahead of Grand Magal

Royal Air Maroc (RAM) has renewed its partnership with Touba, Senegal's central religious city, to make travel easier for members of the Mouride community and to support the city's major religious events, above all the Grand Magal. The agreement was signed in Touba and comes ahead of the next edition of the gathering, one of the largest religious events in Senegal.

Key facts

• Who signed: Royal Air Maroc and the city of Touba, in central Senegal
• Aim: to meet the travel needs of worshippers, especially those living abroad, during the city's main religious gatherings
• Named attendees: Touba mayor Abdou Lahad Kâ and RAM chief commercial officer Ilham Kazzini
• Context: the renewal precedes the next Grand Magal of Touba
• Not stated: no dates, routes, fares or ticket arrangements were announced

What has been agreed?

The renewed deal builds on existing cooperation between the airline and the city. It is intended to support travel for Mouride worshippers to Touba during its major religious gatherings, particularly the Grand Magal, which each year draws worshippers from across Senegal and from abroad.

The signing took place in Touba in the presence of mayor Abdou Lahad Kâ and RAM chief commercial officer Ilham Kazzini, who was accompanied by the airline's commercial director for Africa, Noura Daoudi, and its regional director for Senegal, Mounim Elkababi. Serigne Kosso Mbacké, son of the Mouride community's caliph general, and Serigne Khadim Mbacké, the caliph's nephew, also attended.

Why does this matter for travellers?

Kazzini said the agreement reflected the ties RAM had built with the Mouride brotherhood, its leaders and followers in Senegal and worldwide, and highlighted the role of the airline's international network in connecting Senegalese expatriates with their home country, notably for Touba's main religious events.

Serigne Khadim Mbacké said the caliph general had welcomed the renewal and stressed Touba's commitment to stronger relations between Morocco and Senegal, which share longstanding spiritual and economic exchanges. The agreement also forms part of wider efforts to deepen Moroccan-Senegalese cooperation in air transport and human and cultural exchanges.

No start date, routes, schedules or fares were announced. Travellers planning to attend the Grand Magal will need to wait for further details on how the partnership will work in practice.