Physical Address
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The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, Sidi Ould Tah, is visiting Algeria during which he expressed the willingness of the institution he chairs to support strategic projects in the country in different areas of activity. At the same time, he did not fail to praise the Algerian economic experience, calling it a model for African countries.
On the first day of his arrival in Algiers on Sunday, the President of the AfDB was received by the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune. At the end of the audience granted to him by the Head of State, he affirmed that this meeting offered him the opportunity to express the appreciation of the ADB Group for the level of development in Algeria as well as the promising prospects that the country offers for its African peers. He cited, in this sense, the transfer of Algerian experience in various fields, such as housing and seawater desalination, to other African countries.
Addressing the prospects for cooperation with Algeria, Ould Tah underlined, as part of the presentation of the ADB program, the Group’s desire to contribute to the implementation of the Laghouat-Ghardaïa-El Meniaâ railway line project. A project which, he said, is “important for Algeria but also for Africa, because it opens a route between the Sahel countries and the Mediterranean, which will facilitate the transport of goods and people”.
On this occasion, Mr. Ould Tah addressed his “thanks” to the President of the Republic for “the strong support” he gave to his candidacy for the presidency of the ADB Group last May, highlighting that “Algerian support was decisive”. Continuing yesterday his meetings with senior Algerian officials, Sidi Ould Tah, accompanied by a delegation, spoke with the Minister of State, Minister of Hydrocarbons and Mines, Mohamed Arkab, and with the Minister of Public Works and Basic Infrastructure, Abdelkader Djellaoui.
Arkab presented to the President of the ADB the development programs supervised by the sector, including the development and transformation of hydrocarbons, the valorization of mining resources, major phosphate exploitation and transformation projects and seawater desalination projects, said a press release from the ministry. Highlighting Algeria’s desire to strengthen intra-African cooperation in the areas of sustainable energy, strengthening production capacities and regional interconnection, the minister indicated that Algeria is willing to share its expertise in the exploration and transformation of hydrocarbons, distribution of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), geological studies and training, and management of major projects.
For his part, Ould Tah praised the Algerian vision in terms of development, as well as the progress made in socio-economic areas, its regional role within the African continent, while describing the Algerian economic experience as a model. At the same time, he underlined the ADB’s willingness to support Algeria in financing its strategic projects and to contribute to the transfer of its expertise to other countries on the continent, particularly in the areas of exploitation and transformation of hydrocarbons, desalination of seawater, development of infrastructure and exploitation of strategic minerals.
Ould Tah further highlighted the AfDB’s commitment to deepening the bilateral partnership and supporting all initiatives aimed at strengthening economic integration and common development in the African continent.
With the Minister of Public Works, Ould Tah examined ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the development of national railway projects. The main projects currently being implemented in the railway sector, in particular the North-South interconnection project, were discussed, with particular emphasis on the importance of the ADB’s contribution to financing certain of its sections via bank loans, and support for strengthening the sector’s infrastructure capacities.
At the end of this meeting, an extended working session was held, in the presence of executives from the National Agency for Studies and Monitoring of the Implementation of Railway Investments (ANESRIF), during which the short and medium-term national railway program was reviewed, as well as the sector’s development prospects, said the same source.