The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the National Community Abroad, Ramtane Lamamra, and his Nigerian counterpart, Housumi Masoudou, stressed in Niamey the need to work together to maintain peace, stability and develop development in Africa in general and in the sub-region in particular.
During his working visit to Niger on 5 and 6 September in his capacity as Special Envoy of the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Mr. Lamamra, accompanied by an important delegation, was received by the President of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, and the Prime Minister and Head of Government, Mhamadou Ouhomodou, according to a joint statement.
During a working meeting between the delegations of the two countries, Lamamra and Masoudou talked about regional and international issues of common interest and discussed in detail the issues of bilateral cooperation, especially those related to defense, security, immigration, energy, petroleum and vocational training.
They stressed “the need to work together to maintain peace, stability and develop development in Africa in general and in the sub-region in particular”, reiterating their “determination to establish a sustainable sub-regional partnership in the service of the peoples of the region with the aim of promoting pragmatic and solidarity South-South cooperation”.
With regard to the defense and security sector, the heads of the two delegations praised the exemplary cooperation prevailing in this field between the two countries, and welcomed the holding of the joint bilateral military committee meeting on August 24 and 26, 2021 in Algeria.
In this regard, they committed themselves “to continue in this way in order to confront the multiple security challenges facing them, especially in the Sahel region.”
With regard to managing the flow of immigrants, the two parties agreed to study the situation of Nigerian immigrants working in Algeria within the framework of the upcoming consultations that will take place between the two interior ministers. They also welcomed the measures that will be taken regarding the meeting of the next session of the bilateral border commission.
Regarding the energy partnership, the two parties welcomed the relaunch of cooperation at the level of the Kafra bloc and the favorable prospects to allow SIPEX to continue its activities and quickly move to the stage of exploitation.
They also agreed to deepen their consultations on oil and energy issues, including the trans-Saharan gas pipeline project, during the upcoming visit of the Algerian Minister of Energy and Mines to Niger at the end of September 2021. In addition to these two sectors, the two parties stressed the importance of expanding their cooperation in the fields of health and training.
The visit of the head of the Algerian diplomacy to Niger comes within the framework of the traditions of consultation and dialogue between the two brotherly countries and reflects their will and determination to give a new dynamism to the rich and multifaceted cooperation in accordance with the directives provided by the two presidents during the friendship and work visit that President Bazoum conducted last July to Algeria.
