President Abdelmadjid Tebboune calls for unifying vision for strong, influential Africa

Algiers, 4 September 2025 (SPS)- President Abdelmadjid Tebboune called on Thursday in Algiers, for a unifying vision for a strong and influential Africa, emphasizing Algeria’s willingness to actively contribute to this ambitious vision.

Chairing the opening ceremony of the 4th Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF 2025) at the Abdelatif Rahal International Conference Center (CIC), the President of the Republic said that “Africa represents the future” and that “Algeria will actively contribute to efforts to meet the development challenge of the continent.”

On this occasion, the President of the Republic said that Algeria was proud to host this fourth edition of the IATF, which, he said, takes place in “a very sensitive and delicate global context, where events accelerate at an unprecedented pace.”

Today’s meeting is “much more than a mere economic event; it embodies the collective consciousness that drives us all to build an integrated continent, a continent with strong will and influence in its regional and international environment,” said the President of the Republic.

Recalling achievements at the continental level, the President mentioned “significant gains made over the last two decades, notably the activation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the African Union’s (AU) membership in the G20, and the establishment of partnership relations with major powers and economic organizations worldwide.”

“There is still a long way to go to remedy historical injustices against Africa and enable the continent to take its rightful place in the global economy,” he added.

The President also urged African countries to “unite their efforts to enable the continent to contribute to international economic decision-making and come out of marginalization.”

In this regard, he mentioned “the low shares Africa holds in international institutions, recalling that its voting rights at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) do not exceed 6.5%, the lowest in this organization,” while its share in the World Bank does not exceed 11%.

He made the same observation regarding Africa’s share in global trade, specifying that it barely exceeds 3%, “which is insignificant compared to the resources it has, representing 30% of the world’s natural resources, as well as a population of more than 1.5 billion, making it a vast emerging market.”

The President also recalled that Africa’s share in the flow of global investments does not exceed 94 billion dollars per year (less than 6% of the total flow), “the lowest share in the world.”

Addressing “the profound lack of transport, energy, communication, and financing infrastructure” affecting the African continent, the President stressed that these facts “should not weaken our determination but rather serve as additional motivation to mobilize our collective capacities and transform our continental reality into a success story in terms of development.”

In this respect, he highlighted Algeria’s efforts to overcome these shortcomings and help meet the challenge for the benefit of current and future generations through several major structuring mega-projects benefiting the continent, foremost among them the Trans-Saharan road, the gas pipeline linking Algeria and Nigeria, which will guarantee energy to several countries, the Trans-Saharan fiber optic backbone project that enhances digital sovereignty, the railway line to Mali passing through Adrar, the railway line to Niger passing through Tamanrasset, as well as the launch of air and sea links between African capitals, the opening of branches of Algerian banks in different African countries, and many other projects.

The President further emphasized Algeria’s contribution to establishing the foundations of intra-African trade, notably through the creation of five free trade zones with brotherly countries in the Maghreb and Sahelo-Saharan regions.

Reaffirming the solidarity dimension promoted by Algeria towards other African countries, the President said, “Algeria is proud to have contributed since its independence to the training of no less than 65,000 African executives, convinced of the importance of working for the continent’s development.”

Moreover, Algeria recently canceled the debts of 14 African countries amounting to 1.5 billion dollars, illustrating Algeria’s African orientation, stated the President, who is convinced that “Africa’s future, in which Algeria believes, relies on the collective capacity of its countries to establish an integrated infrastructure.”

In this context, he emphasized “the importance of creating a favorable investment climate for all, a goal that, he said, ‘requires combined efforts, mobilization of energies, and unification of the process to transform the AfCFTA into a true development tool.'”

He also highlighted Algeria’s capabilities to contribute to the continent’s development, notably through the possibility for Algerian ports to receive, within 5 or 6 years, goods from landlocked African countries.

While discussing the objectives of this important economic event, the President called on participating African leaders and officials to make this fair “a new beginning and a renewed era where we hold hands to move forward surely towards a strong, united, and prosperous Africa.”

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