Creation of free zones between Algeria, five African countries in 2024

ALGIERS- The president of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, announced Tuesday that the year 2024 would be distinguished by the establishment of  free zones between Algeria and five African countries, namely Mauritania, Tunisia, Libya, Mali and Niger.

In an address via video conference, at the 41st meeting of the Steering Committee of the Heads of State and government of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD‎), the president of the Republic said "Algeria will see, in 2024, the creation of free zones with sister countries, starting with Mauritania, then Sahel countries such as Mali and Niger, in addition to Tunisia and Libya."

The president of the Republic also stressed Algeria's commitment to meeting the goals of economic development and continental integration, and the importance of working for the improvement of the efficiency of the economic integration processes in Africa.

The integration, he added, concerns the improvement of the relevant infrastructures through the enhancement of public-private partnerships, the utilization of national resources‎, the use of regional and international funds for infrastructure development and other innovative financing instruments.

It also includes the improvement of regional production and trade networks, through the strengthening of production capacities, the continuation of the efforts to promote the industrial sector's role and getting access to global value chains, by promoting the diversity of African industries, the president of the Republic said.

According to him, Algeria gives a great importance to investment in basic infrastructures.

The president stressed Algeria's mega projects with continental dimension, such as the Trans-Saharan Road connecting six African countries and the road project linking the city of Tindouf, in Algeria, to that of Zouérat in Mauritania.

Algeria also launched the Trans-Saharan Fibre Optic Backbone Project for the development of the regional digital economy in the Sahel, as well as the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, which transports gas from Nigeria to Europe through Algeria, and the nationwide railway network development projects, which may extend to neighbouring countries, he added.

The president of the Republic emphasized the "need to mobilize further human, technical and financial resources to carry out the main continental projects as part of the African Development Agenda 2063, in addition to strengthening the efforts for the achievement of continental complementarity and integration, including the speeding up of the implementation of the agreement on the African Continental Free Trade Area."

He also called for support to African development initiatives, especially the infrastructures and industrial transition projects, to restore security and achieve the expected development.