ECOWAS Secretariat
By Lizzy Okoji
Algeria says it is seeking to strengthen economic, trade, political, diplomatic, and security relations with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Algerias Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Sabri Boukadoun, disclosed this at a meeting with President of the ECOWAS Commission, Jean-Claude Brou in Abuja.
According to Boukadoun, Algerias quest for close cooperation with ECOWAS is aimed at tackling the challenges facing the continent.
He identified such challenges as Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, economic downturn, trade imbalances, and insecurity, among others.
He said that as a fully-fledged African country, Algeria would remain committed to being an active player in the new African trade zone, which is opening soon.
We follow and respect the work that ECOWAS is doing on so many fields and I am here to pay my respects. We are neighbours to ECOWAS members. We share a long border with them.
I have come to see you, to talk together to see what we can do together. We need to cooperate and exchange views and Algeria is ready for that.
We are open and want to come in all transparency and frankness. We want to work with you on so many challenges COVID, economy, and trade.
We are about to open the new African Free trade Zone. We are part of it. We are fully Africans and what concerns Africans concerns us directly; security, trade and economy, Boukadoun said.
Responding, Brou acknowledged the existing close relations between Algeria and ECOWAS members.
According to him, the ECOWAS Commission is looking forward to strengthening relations between Algeria and Member States.
He described Boukadouns visit to Nigeria as a good development in view of Nigerias position as a very strategic country in the community.
Algeria is a very important country in the continent and like I said, a neighbour of ECOWAS members.
We do appreciate at a high level the very close relations you have with practically each member of ECOWAS.
You have very good diplomatic, political, economic, commercial relations with each of the member states. As such, we value those relationships that really last for years.
And we do want to work on the basis of those relations, to reinforce and see how we can contribute more at the ECOWAS Commission, to strengthen what you have already with each of the members of ECOWAS.
Your visit here today to the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a good and very strong example of this relationship that you have with each of the member countries.
Nigeria is a very important member of our community. It is one of the key members of our community and the fact that you are here today on this visit, testifies to the quality relationship that we have been discussing.
So, we at the commission are really looking forward to working to reinforce the overall relations at the community level with ECOWAS, Brou said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Boukadoun is on a two-day working visit to Nigeria and is expected to meet with his Nigerian counterpart, Geoffrey Onyeama on Thursday to discuss bilateral relations.
Source: NAN News