Stronger and Prosperous - Algeria 70 years on
This is a Diplomatic Society web exclusive interview with Ambassador Saad Maandi of the Republic of Algeria to the Republic of South Africa. Algeria Revolution Day is commemorated on November 1st, the day in 1954, 70 years ago that started the Algerian uprising against French Occupation. South Africa's Minister Parks Tau of the DTIC delivered congratulatory remarks at a reception held in Pretoria, South Africa.
7 November 2024
The Diplomatic Society (TDS): Algeria has made a significant progress during the recent years. Could you tell us more about Algeria today?
Ambassador Saad Maandi (H.E.): Algeria, under the leadership of President Tebboune, is moving forward on the path to political and economic stability. Indeed, Algeria has accomplished great achievements among which is stability. Aware that stability requires clear socio-economic programs and policies; the President of the Republic constantly works to place the citizen at the center of his concerns through the implementation of programs and projects that interest him and that are a priority for him, in accordance with his program resulting from the 54 commitments that aim to build the new Algeria, stronger and prosperous.
The Reforms have aided our country to preserve political stability, revive the national economy, consolidate the social character of the State and strengthen the place and weight of Algeria on both the continental and international levels. The democratic renewal of the entire institutional structure of the country has been enabled, capacities of our industry and agriculture are being improved and reinforced, hundreds of thousands of medium and small sized companies are being created and huge infrastructures consolidated.
The last presidential election, held on 7 September, will indubitably strengthen the building of a strong nation capable of realizing the aspirations of current and future generations. The President of the Republic reiterated his commitment to increase the GDP to 400 billion USD, to build a strong non-hydrocarbon national economy by announcing a target of USD 15 billion in non-hydrocarbon exports. As for startups, the President of the Republic noted that the first term had seen their number increase from 200 to nearly 8,000 companies, with the objective of reaching 20,000 startups by the end of his second term. .
Highlighting the notable improvement in the investment climate in Algeria, the President of the Republic reported 9,000 investment projects, some of which are currently being implemented, which will contribute to creating wealth and jobs. The economic recovery is, in fact, one of the major priorities of new Algeria. We are living an economic upturn that counts on its potential and remains open to cooperation with all partners based on common interest.
A new investment law was adopted in 2022 aimed at improving the investment climate and ensuring appropriate conditions to free initiatives and to enhance and diversify the national economy. Algeria has become an attractive pole of investment.
Algeria is now the 3rd largest economy in Africa. Its national economic growth rate is estimated at 4.2% in 2023. Algeria had achieved one of the highest growth rates in the Mediterranean region. Growth in non-hydrocarbon sectors has accelerated to 4.9% in 2023 and the GDP stands at USD 260 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach USD 277 billion by the end of 2024;
Thanks to these achievements, my country has maintained its place among the Top 3 African countries in the Human Development Index (HDI) ranking of the United Nations Development Program.
The priority areas concern the development of renewable energies, the expansion and modernization of the railway sector, water production, the development of the agricultural sector and the release of the potential of mineral resources (Algeria has launched three major structuring projects, namely the integrated phosphate megaproject in Tébessa, in the east of the country, which aims to produce more than 10 million tons of phosphate per year, the iron mine in Tindouf,, considered one of the largest iron deposits in the world with an estimated reserve of more than 2 billion tons and the zinc mine in Bejaia, which is also considered one of the largest in the world, with a production capacity of 2 million tons per year.
TDS: How can South Africa and Algeria Enhance economic cooperation to benefit both countries, particularly in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)?
H.E.: Inevitably the continental free trade area will deepen the economic integration of the African continent and create a liberalized market for goods and services and certainly will promote investments and commercial and economic exchanges for the benefit of the two brotherly peoples.
This is a very good opportunity to express the full commitment and availability of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to work closely with President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Government of South Africa to further strengthen and tighten the bilateral relations that happily unite Algeria and South Africa as well as to promote investments and commercial and economic exchanges for the benefit of the two brotherly peoples. The President of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria is willing to deepen the political consultations between the two countries on issues of common interests.
Our bilateral ties have made significant progress during recent years. We highly appreciate these positive and encouraging outcomes. Efforts are being made to boost and increase the co-operation and to explore the opportunities of investments and potentialities of both countries in various areas.
A very close relationship and mutually beneficial cooperation in every sector between our two countries are essential for an increasingly competitive world. Building strong amicable ties, strengthening further our political relations and exploring the substantial opportunities of investments afforded by our economies will certainly enable us to make striking achievements and to efficiently address and improve the well-being of our peoples.
In the current context of international relations, it is crucial that Algeria and South Africa tense up their collaboration to use their complementary strengths and enhance their abilities so that they will be in a position to meet the expectations of their people and face the challenging times. We are working tirelessly to further strengthen the strategic nature of the excellent relations between Algeria and South Africa and to promote commercial and economic cooperation to take them to a higher level.
With political will helping, it is therefore up to our economic operators to seize the best business opportunities on both sides in order to open up new perspectives for Algerian-South African cooperation.
To achieve these objectives, the role of businessmen from our two countries is crucial and determining. I am pleased to note with satisfaction, the creation of a Business Council that constitute opportunities for economic operators from our two countries to meet, exchange and identify opportunities capable of boosting our trade and promoting our economic cooperation.
Algeria has seriously engaged in a process of diversifying its economy, with a view to reducing its dependence on hydrocarbons. Major projects have been launched in this direction, which leads to assert with great confidence that Algeria is no longer just about oil and gas. Algeria is, in fact, diversifying its economy, and this diversification is creating a wealth of business opportunities.
TDS: Algeria is home to stunning landscapes and a rich cultural heritage, yet tourism remains undeveloped compared to its potential. What strategies is Algeria implementing to grow its tourism sector, and how can South Africa, which has a strong tourism industry, collaborate with Algeria to promote tourism exchange and development?
H.E.: Tourism is no longer a choice. As part of a new development policy, the government aims to promote tourism: The strategy on which we rely in terms of promoting the Algerian destination is essentially based on the assets enjoyed by the country in terms of diversity of landscapes. These range from the desert expanses of the Sahara to the splendid Mediterranean coasts, including famous thermal springs and majestic mountains.
A rich natural and cultural heritage that we intend to highlight through targeted marketing and a high-end offer dedicated to a demanding international clientele.
The objective is to highlight the country's multiple assets and raise it to the rank of a popular international tourist destination.
The Government has put in place a program and adopted a strategy which is the Master Plan for Tourist Development, based essentially on encouraging and developing the act of investing. More than 2000 projects, 800 of which are currently being implemented in terms of hotel structures. We are accelerating to achieve the objectives that we set for ourselves in the master plan, which is to welcome 12 million tourists by 2030.
It is important to strengthen people to people relations and to promote cooperation in the tourism sector. Our two countries have already agreed to develop in the area of tourism and to collaborate with South Africa, which has a strong tourism industry, to promote tourism exchanges and benefit from its experience and expertise and to encourage investments in this field. An agreement on cooperation in the tourism area has been signed between our two countries in 1998. Another Memorandum of Understanding is set to be signed in the coming weeks which will certainly give a new impetus to our collaboration in this important area.
TDS: Algeria was a founding member of Nepad and a strong advocate of African integration. As both Algeria and South Africa are located at opposite ends of the Continent, how do you see the two countries working together to strengthen continental integration, particularly in the context of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the AfCFTA?
H.E.: As a founding country of the African Union, Algeria has always worked, closely with South Afric, to promote the role of this Organization in priority areas, namely: peace and security, governance, integration and representation of the continent at the international level. To this end, our country fully contributes to efforts aimed at providing the AU with the tools and means necessary to effectively deploy joint African action.
Algeria actively participated in the design of Agenda 2063, which constitutes the Union's roadmap for the realization of the vision of an "integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, led by its citizens and constituting a dynamic force on the world stage".
Algeria is currently working, in concert with South Africa and the other Member States and the organs of the AU, to realize the 7 aspirations and 14 flagship projects included in this Agenda. To demonstrate its level of commitment in this area, our country was among the first 9 Member States to have presented their national progress report on the implementation of the first Ten-Year Plan of Agenda 2063, covering the period (2013-2019).
Algeria is fully participating in the reform process of the African Union aimed at enabling the continental organization to best fulfill its missions and adapt to an international situation imposed by new challenges.
Continental integration is one of Algeria's African priorities, which has taken several initiatives since its independence to carry out structuring continental projects such as: The Trans-Saharan Road, a project that dates back to 1964.
The trans-Saharan road on the Algiers-Lagos axis is entirely built and paved on Algerian territory from Algiers to the border with Niger over a length of 2,415 km. The "Trans-Saharan Gas-Pipeline, which is an Algerian-Nigerian project, with a total length of 4,128 km, part of the implementation of NEPAD.
The Trans-Saharan Fiber Optic Backbone, a project initiated by Algeria in 2003, within the framework of NEPAD. It provides for a terrestrial fiber optic link connecting Algeria, Niger, Mali, Chad, and Nigeria. Algeria is also among the five initiating countries of the NEPAD, based on the idea of freeing the continent from conflicts and underdevelopment.
NEPAD has now been transformed into the African Union Development Agency, responsible in particular for: monitoring the implementation of continental and regional projects aimed at continental integration, serving as a technical interface with foreign partners, mobilizing resources for the implementation of development projects included in Agenda 2063.
Algeria also attaches great importance to the implementation of one of the flagship projects of Agenda 2063, which is the African Continental Free Trade Area. Our country thus took an active part in the negotiations that led to the AfCFTA Agreement.
Algeria attaches particular importance to the role of the African Union in the areas of promoting good governance and human rights, in accordance with the provisions of Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitutive Act of the AU, which emphasize the importance of good governance, popular participation, the rule of law and human rights.
For its part, Agenda 2063 includes among its seven aspirations that of building an Africa of good governance, democracy, respect for human rights and justice. The continental organization had adopted, at the initiative of Algeria, at the 35th ordinary summit of the OAU held in Algiers in July 1999, the declaration on unconstitutional changes of government in Africa. This declaration served as the basis for the adoption of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance in 2007. Algeria, which considers itself the moral, political and ethical guardian of the principle of the illegitimacy of unconstitutional changes of power in Africa.
Algeria is also among the founding countries of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), created in 2003, within the framework of NEPAD, for the voluntary self-assessment of governance performance. Algeria is chairing the APRM Forum of Heads of State and Government from 2024 to 2026.
TDS: Algeria has a rich history of struggle for independence and is often seen as an inspiration to other liberation movements across Africa including South Africa’s. Algeria is also where Nelson Mandela received military training. How does Algeria view its role today in supporting peace and stability on the continent, and how do historical ties with South Africa influence current diplomatic and defence cooperation?
H.E.: Yes indeed, Algeria was a safe home of free men, revolutionaries and African activists for freedom and liberation from the chains of colonialism and played an important and pioneering role through its solidarity with the liberation movements in the world, becoming the Mecca of African revolutionaries who decided to walk in its footsteps to liberate their countries. Algeria hosted late Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Robert Mugabe, Samora Machel and many other African revolutionaries. Chief Albert Luthuli was conferred, in 1964, an honorary Doctorate of literature by the University of Algiers in acknowledgment of his contribution to the struggle for freedom.
Algeria and South Africa share the same desire to enhance our nations' development and construction and to ensure the sustainable wellbeing and prosperity of our peoples. They also share the same values and objectives and the common commitment to consolidating multilateralism, upholding international law, promoting the peaceful settlements of disputes and conflicts and making the world safer, secure and flourishing.
Africa aspires to the activation of African solutions to extinguish the embers of conflicts and resolve the crises and disputes from which the countries and peoples of the continent suffer.
Algeria and South Africa firmly believe in the need for international support and global mobilization in the face of the complex challenges facing African countries and people.
That said, Algerian diplomacy has consistently contributed significantly to the promotion of international peace and security and the achievement of the noble objectives for which the UN was created. Algeria has forged its commitment to the values of multilateralism and has placed respect for the rules and principles of international law at the heart of its vision, working tirelessly to strengthen cooperation and friendly ties between states at the sub-regional, continental and international levels, as well as to promote the principle of peaceful settlement of disputes.
Under the leadership of President Tebboune, Algeria is strengthening its position as a key player in the stability and establishment of peace in the region and remains at the heart of the international scene. Our foreign policy, founded on the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of states and the spirit of friendship, good neighbouring and co-operation, allows us to deal with security threats in Africa and the region. My country, due to its internal stability and democratic environment, is exporting peace and security mainly in neighbouring countries.
Algeria has been involved in several mediation endeavours in the region’s conflicts and crises and is making efforts to stabilise the region and to resolve those crises by addressing their main causes and defending the high values of dialogue, negotiation, mutual trust, respect and co-operation.
Algeria continues its efforts to make a significant contribution to common African action and subscribes to the implementation of the flagship project of Agenda 2063 on "silencing the guns in Africa" in order to achieve "a continent free of conflicts" and free from the vestiges of colonialism.
Given its experience and expertise in the fight against terrorism, the African Union has entrusted Algeria with the task of coordinator for the prevention and fight against terrorism in Africa. Under this mandate, Algeria has submitted a memorandum in which it proposes actions to protect Africa and its peoples from the terrorist threat.
My country has always worked to promote collective security by relying on respect for the sovereignty of States and non-interference in their internal affairs, principles on which its foreign and national defense policy is based. Algeria has a particular interest in the stability and development of the countries of the Sahel region, our immediate neighbourhood where the situation is fragile due to the exacerbation of political unrest, the rise in terrorist risks, the explosion of poverty and the absence of prospects for sustainable development, not to mention the worsening of the phenomenon of climatic change.
Efforts have been made by our country to resolve crises and conflicts in the region and to promote dialogue and the use of peaceful means.
Algeria emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive approach to conflict resolution and has always emphasized the interdependence of the triptych "peace, security and development". Development problems are one of the main causes of recurring rebellions in the Sahel region and no solution can be sustainable unless it takes care of the development dimension.
We highlight the initiative of the President of the Republic to organize an International Conference in the Sahel in order to encourage the development approach and mobilize the necessary funding for the implementation of projects in this region which greatly needs social and economic infrastructure.
Development projects for the benefit of several African countries, is to be implemented by the Algerian Agency for International Cooperation and Solidarity (ALDEC). President Tebboune has decided to inject US$ 1 billion to finance Development projects in African countries through the Algerian Agency of International Co-operation for Solidarity and Development.
Allow me, in this context, to raise two big issues: The Palestinian and Sahrawi conflicts. As for Palestine, the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state remains the very essence of any solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. This is the main and inescapable challenge and the sine qua non condition for any serious peace process. It is impossible to achieve peace and security in the Middle East without allowing the Palestinians to exercise their legitimate rights, at their head the inalienable right to the establishment of their independent and sovereign state, with El-Quds as its capital.
Recognition of the Palestinian state is crucial for achieving security and peace in the Middle East and safeguarding the two-state solution, which is subject to systematic undermining by the occupying authority.
The genocidal war waged in Gaza, its extension to the West Bank and Lebanon and the escalation throughout the region would not have been possible if the international community had then taken a firm position imposing the same sanctions and measures on the Israeli occupation coercive measures imposed on others, as provided for in the Charter of our organization in Chapter VII. We must put an end to the hell that the Palestinian and Lebanese people are suffering and restrain the Israeli occupier in its desire to plunge the Middle East into a spiral of crises, conflicts and endless wars
And here, I would like to pay a well-deserved tribute to the Republic of South Africa, for taking this case to the International Court of Justice, to make sure that the occupying power does not get away with its crimes easily as it did systematically in the past.
As far as the issue of Western Sahara is concerned, I remind that it is a question of decolonization that strongly defended and supported by the UN. Algeria, like South Africa and many justice-loving countries, support the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination, through the organisation of a free and fair referendum as provided by the UN-OAU plan adopted by the SC/UN in 1991 in order to turn the last dark page in the history of colonialism in Africa and the shameful plundering of its natural resources.
The international community is firmly urged to assist and back the Sahrawi people who is aspiring to liberation and emancipation, like all the other African peoples who preceded them in achieving freedom and independence.
Algeria supports the United Nations Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy for their efforts to enable the two parties to the conflict, the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front, to resume the process of direct negotiations with a view to reaching a peaceful solution which guarantees the imprescriptible and inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination.
In this regard, the rulings made public on October 4 by the Court of Justice of the European Union concludes that Western Sahara is a territory that is separate and distinct from Morocco, and that Morocco has no sovereignty or administering mandate for the territory and confirms the illegality of the commercial agreements concluded with Morocco, in violation of the inalienable rights of the Sahrawi people over the natural resources contained in the non-autonomous territory of Western Sahara.
The Court of Justice of the European Union recall the undeniable truths inherent to the Sahrawi cause, including in particular the legal status of this territory, the legal status of the Polisario Front, as well as that the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination. These irrefutable truths cannot be altered by the manifest desire of certain European countries to endorse the colonial fait accompli in Western Sahara.