In a statement to the press, the Nigerien Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bakary Yaou Sangaré, who was visiting Algiers on Tuesday, praised Algeria’s role in resolving the crises that Niger had to face in the past.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the National Community Abroad, Ahmed Attaf, received Tuesday, in Algiers, his Nigerien counterpart, Bakary Yaou Sangaré, on a working visit to Algeria.
The discussions between the two officials, said a press release from the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, focused on cooperative relations between the two countries which share 951 kilometers of borders and have long maintained good relations as well as solid ties, particularly on the political level.
The two ministers discussed at length the evaluation of cooperative relations between Algeria and Niger in different areas. There was thus talk of economic projects of regional dimension, in particular, the backbone drawn by the trans-Saharan road, about its role in development in the Sahel.
The trans-Saharan project is, above all, intended to open up a certain number of African countries and should facilitate trade on a continental scale.
Furthermore, the two ministers reviewed developments in the situation in the region, particularly the crisis in Niger. The Nigerien Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yaou Bakary Sangaré, did not fail to welcome Algeria’s role in supporting his country to emerge from the current crisis.
Following his meeting with Mr. Attaf, he underlined the exceptional nature of relations between the two countries. He also welcomed the quality of these relations, mentioning common projects but also the role that Algeria has always played in resolving the crises that his country has experienced.
In a statement to the press, Yaou Bakary Sangaré spoke of cooperation between the two countries and the possibilities of strengthening it, noting that the two parties mentioned, during their meeting, a certain number of joint projects.
Mr. Bakary Sangaré also addressed the political situation in Niger and the role played by Algeria which “has always been at the side” of his country. “Algeria has always been on the side of Niger in all the crises that the country has had to face in the past,” he declared, adding: “We have always been satisfied with how Algeria has served as a good offices mediator every time there was a problem in Niger.”
You Bakary Sangaré will specify that Niger is “today in full mediation with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)”. “(…) I came to take stock with my Algerian brother to explain to him the dynamic in which we currently find ourselves,” he added.
“The mediation with ECOWAS is well underway, we hope that very quickly we will put this whole situation behind us and that we will manage to find a rapid way out of the crisis about the situation we are currently going through,” he said. mentioned.
Bakary Sangaré affirmed that “the hoped-for exit from the crisis” should allow “(…) us to concentrate on the work that awaits (us) for the return to constitutional order and for the development actions of our country”.
Remember that Algeria launched mediation in Niger, the day after the July 26 coup, while adopting an intransigent position regarding foreign intervention to restore deposed president Mohamed Bazoum in office. A mediation unfortunately “upset” a few weeks after its launch.
The sequence has somewhat cast a chill on relations between the two countries. This episode is now a thing of the past since diplomatic relations between Algiers and Niamey are experiencing a warming today.
The President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune had, it should be noted, last August, expressed Algiers’ desire to find a peaceful solution in Niger. “We are ready to help Nigeriens to unite,” he declared during a meeting with journalists from the national press.
“There will be no solution without us,” he said. We are the first concerned (by the situation in Niger, editor’s note).”
A country bordering Niger, Algeria very early on became involved in the search for a diplomatic solution to the crisis facing Niger, categorically rejecting the military option envisaged by ECOWAS and supported by France. The latter has just repatriated its last soldiers who were stationed in Niamey just a few days ago.
