The President of Algeria, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, affirmed that ‘Africa represents the future’ and that ‘Algeria will actively contribute to efforts to meet the challenge of the continent's development.’

 

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The President of Algeria, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, spoke out on Thursday, 4 September 2025, in Algiers in favour of a unifying vision for a strong and influential Africa, emphasizing Algeria's desire to actively contribute to this ambitious vision.

Presiding over the opening ceremony of the 4th edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF 2025) at the Abdelatif-Rahal International Conference Center (CIC), Abdelmadjid Tebboune affirmed that ‘Africa represents the future’ and that ‘Algeria will actively contribute to efforts to meet the challenge of the continent's development.’

On this occasion, the president of Algeria said that Algeria was proud to host this fourth edition of the IATF, which, he said, is being held in ‘a very sensitive and delicate global context, where events are accelerating at an unprecedented pace.’

He affirmed that the meeting, ‘much more than a simple economic event, is intended to embody the collective consciousness that drives us all to build an integrated continent, a continent with a strong will and influence in its regional and international environment’.

Recalling the achievements made at the continental level, Tebboune referred to ‘the considerable progress made over the last two decades, notably the activation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the African Union's (AU) accession to the G20, and the establishment of partnership relations with the world's major powers and economic organizations’.

However, he considered that ‘there is still a long way to go to repair the historical injustices done to Africa and enable the continent to take its rightful place in the global economy’.

The president also urged African countries to ‘join forces to enable the continent to contribute to international economic decision-making and emerge from marginalization’.

In this regard, he cited Africa's small share in international institutions, noting that its share of voting rights in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) does not exceed 6.5 percent, the lowest in that organization, while its share in the World Bank does not exceed 11 percent.

The same is true of Africa's share of world trade, he said, noting that it barely exceeds 3 percent, ‘which is insignificant compared to the resources it has at its disposal, representing 30 percent of the world's natural resources, in addition to a population of more than 1.5 billion, which makes it a huge emerging market’.

The president went on to point out that Africa's share of global investment flows does not exceed $94 billion per year (less than 6 percent of the total flow), which is ‘the lowest share in the world’.

Referring to ‘the profound lack of transport, energy, communication, and financing infrastructure’ afflicting the African continent, the president emphasized that these facts ‘must not undermine 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 regard, 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 infrastructure projects that will benefit the continent, foremost among which are the trans-Saharan highway, the gas pipeline linking Algeria and Nigeria, which will guarantee energy supplies to several countries, the trans-Saharan fiber optic backbone project that strengthens digital sovereignty, the railway line to Mali via Adrar and the railway line to Niger via Tamanrasset, in addition to the launch of air and sea links between African capitals, the opening of Algerian bank branches in various African countries, and many other projects.

Intra-African trade

President Tebboune also highlighted Algeria's contribution to laying the foundations for intra-African trade, notably through the creation of five free trade zones with neighboring countries in the Maghreb and the Sahel-Saharan region.

Reaffirming Algeria's commitment to solidarity with other countries on the continent, the President of the Republic stressed that ‘Algeria is proud to have contributed, since its

independence, to the training of no fewer than 65,000 African executives, convinced of the importance of working for the development of the continent.’

Furthermore, Algeria recently wrote off the debts of 14 African countries worth $1.5 billion, which illustrates Algeria's African orientation, he said, expressing his conviction that ‘the future of Africa, in which Algeria believes, depends on the collective ability of its countries to put in place an integrated infrastructure’.

In this regard, he stressed the importance of creating a favorable investment climate for all, a goal which, he said, ‘requires combined efforts, the mobilization of energies, and the unification of the process in order to transform the AfCFTA into a real tool for development’.

In doing so, he highlighted Algeria's capacity to contribute to the continent's development, particularly through the possibility for Algerian ports to receive goods from landlocked African countries within five or six years.

Reviewing the objectives of this important economic event, the the president addressed the participating African leaders and officials, inviting them to make this 4th edition of the IATF ‘a new beginning and a renewed era in which we join hands to move forward with confidence towards a strong, united, and prosperous Africa’.

Reporting by Indonesia Window