1 week ago
2 ARTICLE AD
Algeria has reaffirmed its commitment to help free the African continent from threats of armed conflicts and cross-border challenges, particularly the fight against terrorism in the Sahel region in order to accelerate development.
It is against this backdrop that through the Algerian Agency for International Cooperation for Solidarity and Development, Algeria has committed $1 billion to development projects in education, healthcare and social infrastructures in Africa, especially in the Sahel region.
The Algerian Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Mourad Louhaidia, announced these at a reception to mark the 70th National Day (Independence Day) of Algeiria from French colonial yoke in 1954 in Accra last Thursday.
In attendance were members of the diplomatic corps, Algerian nationals in Ghana, daughter of former first President of Ghana, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Samia Nkrumah, and Mr Sena Oklu, who in the 1950s contributed his first salary as an employee of the Ghana broadcasting cooperation (GBC) to help in the Algerian revolution.
The Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, represented President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo – Addo, the government and people of Ghana at the event.
The Algerian Ambassador said the relationship between Ghana and Algeria was steeped in history and have always been shaped by a shared vision inspired by the struggle of African nations for their independence and by a pan-Africanist aspiration for peace, unity, progress and prosperity for all.
Mr Louhaidia said: “My country will never forget the strong commitment and the real support of Ghana and its first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, to the struggle of the Algerian people for freedom.
“The Algerian people and government highly appreciates the continuous positive development of our relations of cooperation and solidarity, and wish to raise them to the level of the historical friendship and solidarity that unites our two peoples,” he added.
This, Mr Louhaidia noted, was clearly demonstrated by the double increase in the award of university and vocational training scholarships offered by the Algerian Government to Ghanaian students as well as the growth in economic and trade exchanges of the two countries, reaching $44 million last year.
“Our two governments are working together to promote and diversify economic cooperation by exploring all the opportunities and the potential that both economies offer, especially within the African Continental Free Trade Area, hosted in Accra,” he noted.
The Algerian Ambassador congratulated Ghana’s Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Minister, Shirley Ayokor Botchwey, for her stunning election to the position of Secretary General of the Commonwealth for the next four years.
Dr Adutwum expressed gratitude to the Algerian government for its consistent support in building the human resource capacity of Ghanaians through the grant of scholarships for students.
He said about 100 Ghanaian students were beneficiaries of the joint Ghana-Algeria government scholarships, and were studying various disciplines, including medicine, architecture, petroleum, economics and Islamic religious studies in Algeria.
He said, “We count on the government of Algeria to continue to streamline the African voice within the United Nations Security Council by reflecting our continent’s views and the resolution of crisis through the use of African solutions, as well as projecting our aspirations to a United Africa as a tool to foster global unity, inclusivity and development.”
BY NORMAN COOPER
