The recent friendship between Ethiopia and Algeria has gone beyond traditional diplomatic cooperation. Evidently, their cooperation is gaining momentum across various fields of partnership.
Historically, the two African countries have enjoyed long-standing relations for many years and they have steadily been consolidating their relationship based on shared interests. In recent times, relations between Ethiopia and Algeria cover a broad range of cooperation in different sectors. as part of the overall characterization of relations elevated to an all-weather Ethiopia-Algeria partnership with a shared mutual interests, Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad, Ahmed Attaf conducted an official visit to Ethiopia during the past two days.
FM Attaf was welcomed by senior Ethiopian government officials and he delivered a message to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed from Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune as a Special Envoy.
Following the meeting, Prime Minister Abiy on Monday described the discussion as a fruitful engagement on strengthening the enduring ties between Ethiopia and Algeria," Prime Minister Abiy shared on his social media channels.
Ethiopia-Algeria Historical Ties at Highest Level
Algeria opened its Embassy in Addis Ababa in 1976 and Ethiopia opened its Embassy in Algiers, in 2016 which was a crucial step between the two nations to establish strong and amicable relations. This steadily growing diplomatic engagement has been now translated into people to people relations. Specially, since independence of Algeria in 1962, both the North African nations have been enjoying very important friendly, brotherly relationships.
"Even before, when the Algerians were struggling for their independence, they found Ethiopia standing up with them," the former Algerian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Elhamdi Salah once told ENA.
When we were struggling for our independence, we found Ethiopia standing up with us and we will never forget that. From that time on we started to have a very important and brotherly relationship and we are working to build up on this and make those relations better and better in all fields."
Starting from that time, the bilateral cooperation between Ethiopia and Algeria seems to be getting strong as they are working to build up on this and make those relations better and better in all fields. This historical bond has deepened over time, with both countries offering mutual support and collaborating to address shared political challenges. And the partnership has extended to cultural exchange and people-to-people connections, exemplified by the numerous Ethiopian students pursuing education in Algeria.
However, the ambassador argued that the current trade and investment relation of the two countries has remained low and stressed the need for improving the sectors in the future as there are opportunities to realize that. With that spirit, the two countries have been working hard to connect themselves with infrastructures including air transportation so as to facilitate the movement of business people of the nations. For instance, the two countries have been striving to sign agreements in order to commence flights between the countries that would allow their cooperation to be elevated in various areas.
As a result, the two countries established a joint ministerial committee in 2014 to strengthen their cooperation in agriculture, industry, trade, culture and other spheres. Moreover, Ethiopia and Algeria have signed agreements to work together in more than 20 areas of cooperation, including trade, investment protection and promotion, as well as the elimination of double taxation. Beyond the bilateral, the two nations are determined to cementing their cooperation in regional, continental and international areas of cooperation.
It is to be recalled that the current Ethiopian President Taye Atseke Selassie, while serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs, held a sideline discussion with the Algerian Foreign Minister at the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA79) in New York in September 2024. During the discussion, Ethiopia and Algeria agreed to strengthen their cooperation on issues of global peace and security, including ensuring lasting peace and stability in the Horn of Africa.
During their bilateral talks, the two officials also agreed to accelerate preparations for the upcoming fifth meeting of the Ethiopia-Algeria Joint Ministerial Commission.
As Algeria is serving as a non-permanent member of the African Union Peace and Security Council and the UN Security Council since January 2024, this post has become an important juncture in order to further consolidate the bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the multilateral diplomacy arena. On the other hand, during Algeria's presidency of the Arab League in 2021, Algeria hugely helped the League to adjust its biased position and ensure a balanced perspective on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) being built on the Abay (Nile) River.
As part of the frequent high-level exchanges of visits, the Ethio-Algerian bilateral cooperation have been also increasing. For instance, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed paid an official working visit to Algeria in August 2014. During his visit, the prime Minister held discussions with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stated that there are areas where the long-standing historical Ethio-Algerian bilateral cooperation can be further strengthened. Prime Minister Abiy's visit has actually laid a foundation for the current rapprochement between Ethiopia and Algeria, as highlighted by the enhanced cooperation across many areas.
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Similarly, the newly appointed Ethiopian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gedion Timothewos also met with Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf on the sidelines of the first Africa-Russia Cooperation Forum ministerial meeting held in Sochi, Russia last month. Their discussions focused on regional and continental issues of mutual interest. The two countries continued to strengthen their relations in various areas of cooperation.
And the recent Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad, Ahmed Attaf's official working visit to Ethiopia is truly a testament to Ethiopian and Algeria's commitment to working hand-in-hand in various issues of common interests. in general, the outstanding bilateral relations has been tremendously exceeding in many spheres.
All in all, political, economic and social relations between Ethiopia and Algeria are gaining momentum from time to time. And it will certainly provide favorable conditions for further strengthening all-round exchanges and cooperation between the two African nations--Ethiopia and Algeria.
