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Gibson Nyikadzino Diplomatic Telescope

The leading and important element that has historically glued the political, socio and economic thoughts inspiring the Zimbabwe-Algeria relations has been the ability of the general citizenry to speak of self-emancipation.

While the basic concerns can be translated by others as simply a concern on defeating colonialism and uprooting its political-economic structures, the independence of Zimbabwe and Algeria, after brutal wars, give an important direction on the need for ideas or ideology in our daily livelihood.

Ideas, whether good ones or bad ones, can be intoxicating!

The greatest political thoughts, intellectualism and ideas that Zimbabwe and Algeria have used in fighting the British and French colonial systems have come from the writings of Frantz Fanon.

Fanon, an Algerian national, present the contemporary African child and nation-state with strong passions that can easily spark debate about the dangers of colonialism and the pitfalls of the conscious nationalist liberators if they depart from ideas.

His ideas have been important in contemporary post-colonial political thought for minimising the role of political elites as leaders, but emphasising on bolstering the power of the conscious people in guiding and helping to direct the post-colonial life of the people.

This has been an indelible mark on the post-colonial setting for both Zimbabwe and Algeria, demonstrating the political significance of African resistance to colonialism through ideas.

But without ideas, societal progress can never be made, change will not happen and human development ceases. This is why ideas are important because they have the power to change the world and define humanity.

The power of ideas

On Wednesday Algeria’s Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Nourredine Yazid paid a courtesy call to Vice President Constantino Chiwenga to deliberate more on the issues, not only for political cooperation, but increased economic ties through investments and trade.

Algeria provided key logistical support to Zimbabwe’s liberation fighters through military training and weapons that were used in launching the final assault against the Ian Smith settler regime from 1978.

Through the idea of sacrifice, solidarity and defeating colonialism, Algeria helped Zimbabweans at a time it was rebuilding its institutions from the ravages of war against French colonialism.

After independence, Algeria remained true to the idea of solidarity, showing enormous sacrifices by providing Zimbabwean students with scholarships in various areas of cooperation and study.

Liberation ideas shared by the two states also nudge them to continuously share the same goal for the freedom of the people of Palestine and of Western Sahara who are subjugated by the Israeli and Moroccan governments established through institutional racism and segregation.

Algeria has been Zimbabwe’s friend in times of happiness and grief.

With the power of ideas through cooperation, existing political relations are being transformed to generate benefits that come through economic cooperation.

Economic cooperation, investment and trade are also components of an idea that remains key in modern day diplomatic relations. With economic cooperation comes innovation, technological transfer, resource exploitation and opening up the economies to great areas of economic collaboration.

Algeria, for example, has advanced technology in oil and gas exploration. Zimbabwe’s discovery of oil in Muzarabani is a step towards technological cooperation if the two country’s Joint Permanent Commission on Cooperation (JPCC) is expanded to other sectors.

The pharmaceutical industry of Algeria, which has great scientific research, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic produced over 60 million vaccines.

In thriving for self-sufficiency, Algeria meets at least 75 percent of its health sector needs. The country also has a vibrant citrus industry, whose knowledge Zimbabwe can deploy in its diverse agriculture regions.

Curing Africa’s disease

There are barriers both Zimbabwe and Algeria are working to eradicate, that is, the disease of non-cooperation among African states.

It is relatively easy for some blocs and market unions in Asia, Europe or Latin America to speedily cooperate economically for the mutual benefit of their economies.

For Africa, despite owning resources that can feed at least two-thirds of the world’s population, cooperation and intra-continental trade is ridiculously low.

Trade barriers through nationalist mercantile practices and shipping of natural resources without beneficiation to Europe continues to deprive African citizens of decent and improved livelihoods.

Zimbabwe and Algeria, like they have proven that African political liberation was a necessity for African countries to do for themselves, economic independence can also be done through helping each other through contributing to the Africa Free Continental Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Only when the idea of non-cooperation amongst African countries is cured can the big idea of economic independence shall be realised. It is such a start that Zimbabwe and Algeria are deliberating on the pinnacle of their relations to transform them into economic cooperation.

Such an idea is the lifeblood of innovation in all sectors.