CURRENT RELATIONS

Anita Annet Among (Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Uganda. Bukedea District Woman MP.).

Pleased to receive H.E Chérif Oualid the Ambassador of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria to Uganda. We held talks on further deepening the bilateral relations, and cooperation in several sectors that are vital to the development of our nations.

I also confirmed our attendance at the forthcoming 17th session of Parliamentary union of OIC member states that will take place in Algeria.

In a statement at the end of the signing ceremony of two agreements and five memoranda of understanding in several areas of bilateral cooperation, which he co-chaired with his Ugandan counterpart, the President of the Republic expressed “his satisfaction with the convergence of analyzes and views around the issues that were the subject of consultation, as well as the fruitful results achieved during the state visit made by President Museveni to Algeria”.

This visit also “strengthened the relations of brotherhood and solidarity uniting the two countries, marked by regular bilateral consultation”, added the President of the Republic.

He, on the other hand, highlighted “Algeria’s concern to develop its relations with Uganda and its African depth, an approach which it considers to be a strategic orientation”, adding that the visit of the Ugandan President “is an opportunity to work together to promote bilateral relations through the exploitation of the means offered in the two countries”.

The President of the Republic also expressed Algeria’s willingness to share with Uganda its experience in the fields of energy, tourism, agri-food, higher education and scientific research, saluting his Ugandan counterpart on the occasion for the oil discoveries recorded in his country for their contribution to the promotion of the partnership between the two countries in the energy field.

On this occasion, he highlighted the importance he attaches to the meeting of the second session of the joint commission, which will allow the two countries “to enrich the legal framework of cooperation”, hoping that “the meeting will be scheduled soon “and that the two countries work together to activate the Algerian-Ugandan business council”.

In this wake, the President of the Republic indicated that 150 Algerian businessmen will go after the month of Ramadhan to Kampala in order to talk with their Ugandan counterparts about ways to strengthen trade and investment, In this regard, the need to activate the Algerian-Ugandan Business Council which aims to be “a framework allowing economic operators to seize the opportunities offered to inject the desired dynamic into economic and commercial relations between the two countries”.

President Tebboune also recalled that Algeria had initiated, within the framework of continental integration, structuring projects such as the Trans-Saharan Road, the Gas Pipeline (Algeria-Nigeria), and the Trans-Saharan fiber optic backbone, emphasizing that “Algeria is working, alongside Uganda and African brothers, to achieve economic integration within the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA)”.

Based on its conviction that security and stability are closely linked to development, Algeria “has not hesitated to provide assistance to certain countries of the continent, through technical and logistical assistance, and development programs”, adds President Tebboune who recalled the granting of one billion US dollars to “express the momentum of solidarity with the brothers of the African continent”.

The President of the Republic affirmed, on this occasion, that the consultation between Algeria and Uganda to coordinate positions during regional and international deadlines “is satisfactory”, underlining in this context “the absolute support of Algeria to Uganda in its preparations for the 19th Summit of the Conference of Non-Aligned Countries, scheduled for the end of the current year in Kampala, and the Group of 77+China”.

President Tebboune also welcomed Uganda’s support for Algeria’s initiative to host a restricted meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) next summer, before the Summit is held in Kampala.

Furthermore, the President of the Republic expressed his consideration for the inalienable position of Uganda “supporting the process of decolonization in Western Sahara and the defense of the right of the Palestinian people to the establishment of an independent state”.

President Tebboune invited, in this sense, Africans to “redouble collective efforts and provide more political and financial support for the Sahrawi and Palestinian peoples”, calling on the international community to “assume its historic responsibilities” in order to enable the Sahrawi and Palestinian peoples to exercise their right to self-determination and independence.

After recalling, in this wake, the repercussions of the various crises that the African continent is going through, which have given rise to a precarious economic situation and internal conflicts, President Tebboune underlined “Algeria’s role in consolidating peace and stability, particularly in the Sahel region”.

Algeria, in its capacity as Chair of the Monitoring Committee of the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali, considers that the agreement, signed in 2015, “constitutes an appropriate framework for a lasting resolution of the crisis this brotherly country”, continued the Head of State.

The President of the Republic also praised Uganda’s contribution “in mediation to stem the multidimensional crisis in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo”.

The President of the Republic of Uganda, Mr. Yoweri Museveni, arrived in Algeria on Saturday as part of a state visit which will last until Tuesday, at the invitation of the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

M. Museveni a été accueilli, à son arrivée à l'aéroport international Houari-Boumediene d'Alger, par le président Tebboune, accompagné des présidents du Conseil de la nation, M. Salah Goudjil et de l'Assemblée populaire nationale, M. Ibrahim Boughali, du Premier ministre, M. Aïmene Benabderrahmane, du Chef d'Etat-Major de l'Armée nationale populaire, le Général d'Armée Saïd Chanegriha, et de membres du gouvernement.

The First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports Mrs. Janet Museveni has appreciated the partnership between Uganda and the Algerian Government, and the Scholarship programme that has benefitted several Ugandan students for the last 30 years. The Algerian government has been offering over 100 scholarships to Ugandan nationals. The Ambassador of the People’s Republic of Algeria to Uganda had paid a courtesy call on the First Lady Janet Museveni at State House Nakasero.

The strengthening of cooperation between Algeria and Uganda in the fields of energy and mining was the focus of the audience granted Thursday in Kampala by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to the Minister of Energy and Mines, Mohamed Arkab.

Speaking to the press at the end of this audience, which took place at the Ugandan presidential palace in the presence of the CEOs of Sonatrach and Sonelgaz, on the Algerian side, and the Ugandan Minister of Energy and Minerals, Ruth Nankabirwa, Mr. Arkab said that the discussions focused on cooperation between Algeria and Uganda in the fields of energy and mining and prospects for their strengthening.

This meeting allowed to review the main lines agreed with his counterpart on the modalities and means of implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed in Algiers during the state visit made by the Ugandan president on March 11, said the minister.

The two parties, continued Mr. Arkab, have agreed on several areas of partnership in the various fields of energy and mining, as well as the development of a work plan including the visit of Algerian experts in Uganda next June to implement the bilateral cooperation projects agreed, added Mr. Arkab.

For her part, the Ugandan Minister of Energy and Minerals has stressed, in a statement to the press, the willingness of his country to cooperate with Algerian companies, especially for the development of the electricity transmission network in Uganda and the region, including at the level of power generation sites.

She highlighted the experience of Algerian companies in the field of energy, especially with regard to strengthening the transmission network and distribution of electricity.

The audience granted to Mr. Arkab by the Ugandan President comes within the framework of the working visit he is making in Kampala on the instructions of the Algerian President, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune.