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Rare Sahara Floods Bring Morocco’s Dried-Up South Back To Life
Locals said the basin had been barren for nearly 20 years.
In Morocco’s southeastern desert, a rare downpour has brought lakes and ponds back to life, with locals — and tourists — hailing it as a gift from the heavens.
In Merzouga, an attractive tourist town some 600 kilometres (370 miles) southeast of the capital Rabat, the once-parched golden dunes are now dotted with replenished ponds and lakes.
A man sits next to his camels on the shores of Yasmina lake, a seasonal lake in the village of Merzouga in the Sahara desert in southeastern Morocco on October 20, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
“We’re incredibly happy about the recent rains,” said Youssef Ait Chiga, a local tour guide leading a group of German tourists to Yasmina Lake nestled amidst Merzouga’s dunes.
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Khalid Skandouli, another tour guide, said the rain has drawn even more visitors to the tourist area, now particularly eager to witness this odd transformation.
Tourists camp on the shores of Erg Znaigui, a seasonal lake in the village of Merzouga in the Sahara desert in southeastern Morocco on October 20, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
With him, Laetitia Chevallier, a French tourist and regular visitor to the region, said the rainfall has proved a “blessing from the sky”.
“The desert became green again, the animals have food again, and the plants and palm trees came back to life,” she said.
Locals told AFP the basin had been barren for nearly 20 years.
A man leads his camels along the shores of Yasmina lake, a seasonal lake in the village of Merzouga in the Sahara desert in southeastern Morocco on October 20, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Last year was Morocco’s driest in 80 years, with a 48 percent drop in rainfall, according to an October report from the General Directorate of Meteorology (DGM).
But in September, torrential rains triggered floods in southern parts of Morocco, killing at least 28 people, according to authorities.
The rare heavy rains come as the North African kingdom grapples with its worst drought in nearly 40 years, threatening its economically crucial agriculture sector.
Neighbouring Algeria saw similar rain and flooding in early September, killing six people.
North African countries currently rank among the world’s most water-stressed, according to the World Resources Institute, a non-profit research organisation.
The kingdom’s meteorological agency described the recent massive rainfall as “exceptional”.
It attributed it to an unusual shift of the intertropical convergence zone — the equatorial region where winds from the northern and southern hemispheres meet, causing thunderstorms and heavy rainfall.
‘Climate change’
“Everything suggests that this is a sign of climate change,” Fatima Driouech, a Moroccan climate scientist, told AFP. “But it’s too early to say definitively without thorough studies.”
Driouech emphasised the importance of further research to attribute this event to broader climate trends.
Experts say climate change is making extreme weather events, such as storms and droughts, more frequent and intense.
In Morocco’s south, the rains have helped partially fill some reservoirs and replenish groundwater aquifers.
But for those levels to significantly rise, experts say the rains would need to continue over a longer period of time.
The rest of the country is still grappling with drought, now in its sixth consecutive year, jeopardising the agricultural sector that employs over a third of Morocco’s workforce.
Jean Marc Berhocoirigoin, a 68-year-old French tourist, said he was surprised to find Yasmina Lake replenished.
“I felt like a kid on Christmas morning,” he said. “I hadn’t seen these views for 15 years.”
Water has also returned to other desert areas such as Erg Znaigui, about 40 kilometres south of Merzouga, AFP reporters saw.
While the rains have breathed life into Morocco’s arid southeast, Driouech warns that “a single extreme event can’t bring lasting change”.
But last week, Morocco’s meteorological agency said such downpours could become increasingly frequent, “driven partly by climate change as the intertropical convergence zone shifts further north”.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Thursday, swore in General Christopher Gwabin Musa (rtd) as Minister of Defence at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
General Musa’s appointment follows the resignation of Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar on Monday, December 1, 2025. His nomination was announced the following day and transmitted to the Senate, where it received expedited screening and confirmation.
Born in Sokoto in 1967, General Musa was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the Nigerian Army in 1991 and had a distinguished military career. He was appointed Chief of Defence Staff by President Tinubu in 2023 and retired in October 2025.
As Chief of Defence Staff, he championed inter-service security collaboration.
With his swearing-in, the new Defence Minister is expected to immediately assume duties as the Tinubu administration seeks to consolidate recent security gains and fast-track reforms aimed at achieving lasting peace and stability nationwide.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Sen. Adeniyi Adegbonmire, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, and the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, attended the swearing-in ceremony.
Also in attendance were the spouse of the new Minister, Mrs Lilian Oghogho Musa; Chief of Defense Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede; Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan Kukah; and Justice Kumai Bayang Akaahs (rtd).
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has said it has appealed the judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, which ordered the release of twenty-seven houses to James Ibechukwu Okoye and his company.
In the Notice of Appeal filed at the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, the Commission expressed dissatisfaction with the decision of the trial court, which was delivered on October 31, 2025.
EFCC counsel, Abba Mohammed, SAN, sought two orders from the Court of Appeal, which include; Staying the execution of the judgment of the trial court pending the hearing and determination of the appeal; and such further or other orders as the court may deem fit to make in the circumstances.
Meanwhile, the Commission said it felt obliged to correct the distortions and misrepresentations contained in a news story titled “EFCC Invades Abuja Property Despite Court Order Restraining Agency, Awarding N20 million To Jona Brothers”.
It explained in a statement on X that the Abuja property, Plot 680-689 Cadastral Zone B06, Mabushi, Abuja, referenced in the report, is a subject of criminal charge before Justice A.I Kutigi of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court .
However, the EFCC said it sought and secured an order of interim forfeiture of the property before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja pending the determination of the criminal charge before Justice Kutigi.
“In granting the order, the court authorized the EFCC to ‘appoint competent persons/ firm to manage the assets/properties listed in the schedule therein, temporarily forfeited to the Federal Government pending the conclusion of investigation and determination of criminal charges against the suspect,’”
“It is also important to point out that the criminal charge struck out by Justice Osho Adebiyi and the N20m cost she awarded is not in any way connected to the interim order.
“In addition, the enforcement of the interim forfeiture order of the property by the Commission is without prejudice to ongoing appeals on court pronouncements about the true ownership of the property. The appeals are ongoing and the EFCC is diligently attending proceedings.”
The Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun has reaffirmed the commitment of the country’s judiciary to protection of human rights as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution and other international laws and treaties.
She emphasized that the judiciary remains steadfast in its constitutional mandate to uphold the rule of law and protect the rights of citizens.
The CJN spoke on Thursday at the conference on ‘Proportional Force and Respect for Human Dignity: A Dialogue in Governance’, organized by the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, in collaboration with Citizen FM.
The Administrator of the National Judicial Institute, NJI, Justice Babatunde Adeniran Adejumo, represented the Chief Justice of Nigeria at the conference.
In the goodwill message, Justice Kekere-Ekun congratulated the National Human Rights Commission on its 30th anniversary and commended the organizers for holding the conference on International Human Rights Day.
She emphasized that when authority is exercised with restraint, discipline, and accountability, it strengthens public trust and reinforces the legitimacy of institutions.
The CJN reiterated the judiciary’s commitment to protecting human rights and providing remedies where they are infringed.
“Let me make it abundantly clear that the judiciary remains steadfast in its constitutional mandate to uphold the rule of law and protect the rights of citizens,” she said.
The CJN further commended the NHRC for promoting dialogue and awareness on critical human rights issues in Nigeria.
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