581The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) and People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria have enjoyed excellent diplomatic relations since the early 1960’s. The partnership between the two countries is now being further widened and deepened than ever before. There are ample examples to demonstrate the level of ties between the two countries. High-level exchanges of official visits were conducted including the recent visits by H.E. President Sahle-Work Zewde, President of the FDRE, and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD), Prime Minister of the FDRE to Algeria with a view to advancing bilateral relations, particularly economic ones, for the mutual benefit of the peoples of the two countries. Both high-level visits are reflections of the historic friendship that Ethiopia and Algeria enjoy and have created the opportunity to revitalize and further enhance the scope of the existing collaborations on bilateral, regional and international issues.
Thus far, Ethiopia and Algeria have conducted four Joint Ministerial Commissions of Cooperation and have signed over 28 partnership agreements. They have also signed strategic partnership agreement in 2013. Currently, Ethiopia is making the necessary preparations to host the 5th Joint Ministerial Commission in early 2023.
The parliamentary diplomatic relations of Ethiopia and Algeria is also encouraging. The Algerian People’s National Assembly has established the Algeria-Ethiopian Friendship committee. Similarly, the House of People’s Representatives of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has established a counterpart friendship committee.
Starting from 2018 under the leadership of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia is aspiring to bring fast and sustainable economic growth which will enable the country to be one of the five largest economies in Africa by 2030. Ethiopia has adopted a ten-year plan which aims to bring quality based economic growth, to increase production and competitiveness, to build a green and climate-resilient economy, to bring institutional transformation, to ensure fair and equitable opportunities for women and youth and to guarantee a private sector led growth.
To realize this objective, the homegrown economic reform program is designed to bring about macroeconomic, structural and sectoral reforms and to coordinate the role of the government and the private sector in various areas particularly in manufacturing, tourism, information, communication and technology, finance and the aviation sectors. The newly introduced initiative, among other things, paves the way for job creation, poverty reduction, and inclusive growth in Ethiopia.
Economic cooperations, particularly within the African continent, are effective vehicles to drive the continent’s aspiration to see a prosperous Africa by 2063. It is with this in mind that Ethiopia-Algeria relations are focused on creating economic opportunities for the business communities of both countries. In 2021, Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association and the Algerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry have signed an MoU that establishes Ethiopia-Algeria Business Council. Discussions held with H.E. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, President of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, during the visit of H.E. Abiy Ahmed (PhD), Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, to the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria from 28-29 August, 2022, were focused on Ethiopia-Algeria relations and other continental and global issues of common concern. The two leaders underscored the need to further enhance bilateral trade and investment between the two countries. They also stressed the importance of operationalizing a direct air link between the capitals of the two countries to kick-start business activities. Cooperation in the fields of pharmaceuticals, agriculture and education were among the sectors identified for further collaboration.
In business diplomacy, the Embassy of the FDRE in Algeria, has been, participating on trade fairs and tourism exhibitions, establishing business-to-business contacts, and also organizing business forums to scale up the trade relations of the two countries. When it comes to, trade, despite the strong political relations and the huge potential for trade exchange with numerous comparative market advantages that exist between Ethiopia and Algeria, the amount of trade volume between the two countries remains very low.
Active participation in trade promotion events needs to be encouraged in order to open the opportunity to explore the untapped potentials of the two countries. For instance, Ethiopia is the largest Coffee Arabica producer and exporter in the continent while Algeria has one of the highest per capita coffee consumption rates in the region, which demands fulfillment of its coffee needs through imports. Clearly, this offers a new market frontier for Ethiopian coffee exporters. Likewise, Ethiopia, as the second most populous country in Africa, could be a big market for Algerian products. A direct air-link between the two capitals also needs to be realized as soon as possible.
One of the greatest achievements on the continent has been the creation of the Continental African Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) endorsed at the AU Summit in Niamey, Niger on 7 July 2019. The AfCFTA will be the world’s largest free trade area since the formation of the World Trade Organization. The African Union Assembly of 2023 will be held in Addis Ababa under the topic “Accelerating AfCFTA Implementation” with a view to increasing economic cooperation among member states of the African Union. Both Ethiopia and Algeria, as signatories of this agreement, stand to benefit from the AfCFTA. The implementation of AfCFTA will not only increase trade volume between the two countries, but it also will boost the potential of attracting investment.