daniel chigunwe
Farirai Machivenyika
Senior Reporter
Algeria President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, has called for increased economic ties with Zimbabwe, taking advantage of the sound political relations that exist between the two countries.
He said this yesterday during a meeting with Speaker of the National Assembly, Advocate Jacob Mudenda, who is in Algeria on a parliamentary bilateral visit at the invitation of his counterpart, Mr Brahim Boughali.
In a statement from Parliament yesterday, Adv Mudenda said President Tebboune had re-affirmed his support for Zimbabwe.
“The President expressed his continued support to the people of Zimbabwe through political dialogue and he indicated that there was need to upscale the sound political relationships to the economic levels.
“President Tebboune also said he was ready to work together at personal level with the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, especially in the field of education and the economic sector,” reads the statement.
President Tebboune also indicated that he would dispatch his Minister of Energy to Zimbabwe to explore areas of cooperation.
Zimbabwe and Algeria share cordial relations dating back to the days of the liberation struggle where it provided moral and material support to freedom fighters.
The North African country has also provided scholarships to Zimbabwean students to study in that country’s tertiary institutions.
Adv Mudenda was accompanied to the meeting by Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Algeria, Vusumuzi Ntonga.
The Speaker is in Algeria accompanied by members of the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade namely the Committee’s Chairman Cde Webster Shamu, Cde Zalera Makari and Mr Godfrey Dube.
In an earlier meeting with Mr Boughali, the Algeria Speaker hailed the bilateral visit as an avenue to deepen existing parliamentary relations in an effort to strengthen parliamentary diplomacy.
“On that score, he emphasised the need to establish a fully-fledged Friendship Association to bolster sustainable cooperation as well as to share parliamentary best practices between the two legislatures.”
“Speaker Boughali also called for collaborative efforts between the two legislatures in addressing the myriad of African and global challenges that include climate change impact, depressed economic growth post Covid-19 and several conflicts, among others.
“In this context, he challenged Africa to resolve African problems and challenges by coming up with African solutions that are relevant in mitigating such conflict and challenges. In this regard, it was imperative that the two legislatures supported each other at regional and international fora as guided by the African Union political principles,” reads the statement from Parliament.
Online Reporter