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Herald Reporter

Zimbabwe and Algeria have started exploring more economic cooperation, taking advantage of the excellent bilateral relations dating back to the days of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle. 

Details of accelerating economic cooperation under the fourth Joint Permanent Commission on Cooperation were discussed on Wednesday when Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care Dr Constantino Chiwenga received Algerian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Nourredine Yazid at his office.

Vice President Chiwenga, himself a liberation war veteran, detailed the support freedom fighters received from Algerian, from arms to training.

A lot of Zimbabwean combat men and women were trained in Algeria, including the late former Zipra commander Alfred Nikita Mangena and the late Colonel Harold Chirenda.

In independent Zimbabwe, the Algerian Government has also supported Zimbabwean education through giving scholarships for Zimbabwean students to study at Algerian universities.

Under the Second Republic, Zimbabwe’s foreign policy stresses economic ties to improve people’s livelihoods, hence the new stress on expanding ties further in the economic field.

Both countries are strategically positioning themselves to use the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to increase trade within Africa and to see African companies exporting more regionally and in the continent.

“We have had so many discussions which brings the two countries together,” said VP Chiwenga after meeting the Algerian envoy to Zimbabwe. 

“We want to always remain friends of Algeria, we achieve this through economic cooperation, and so we were talking about issues of economic cooperation, trade and investment. 

“This is the best way which will keep people together. That friendship will be cemented through economic cooperation. We want to revamp our Joint Permanent Commission on Cooperation which must now enter its fourth session.” 

Ambassador Yazid said the discussions with the Vice President were fruitful and sets the tone for the JPCC, which he says will be held later this year or early next year.

He said Algeria and Zimbabwe worked well in higher education cooperation and now efforts were in motion to explore several areas of cooperation of an economic nature.

“It was a very interesting discussion,” said Ambassador Yazid. “We shared ideas on how to promote our cooperation. We have also discussed ways to develop our economic ties in trade.” 

Ambassador Yazid spoke of cooperation in the agricultural sector, which is viewed as a key enabler towards Zimbabwe’s attainment of the 2030 vision of an upper middle income society.

Algeria’s economy is dominated by exports of petroleum and natural gas contributing around one-third of the Gross Domestic Product.