The President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, announced, Tuesday, February 13, 2024, that the current year will be marked by the creation of free zones between Algeria and five African countries, in this case Mauritania, Tunisia, Libya, Mali and Niger.
In a speech delivered by videoconference, on the occasion of the 41st meeting of the Steering Committee of Heads of State and Government of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the President of the Republic announced that “Algeria will see, in 2024, the creation of free zones with sister countries, starting with Mauritania, then the Sahel countries such as Mali and Niger, in addition to Tunisia and Libya.”
The President of the Republic also underlined Algeria’s commitment to achieving the objectives of economic development and continental integration, and the importance of working to improve the effectiveness of economic integration processes in Africa. .
In this context, he recalled the large-scale projects with a continental dimension launched by Algeria, such as the trans-Saharan road linking six African countries and the road project linking the city of Tindouf and that of Zouerate in Mauritania. .
Algeria also launched the Trans-Saharan fiber optic backbone project to develop the regional digital economy in the Sahel, as well as the trans-Saharan gas pipeline which transports gas from Nigeria to Europe via Algeria and the project to develop the rail transport network throughout the national territory, which could extend to neighboring countries, following the vision of the trans-Saharan road, he added.
The President of the Republic called for “the necessary mobilization of more human, technical and financial resources in order to execute the main continental projects included under the African development agenda for 2063, in addition to strengthening efforts to achieve continental complementarity and integration, including the acceleration of the implementation of the agreement on the African Continental Free Trade Area.
