OIL and gas-rich Algeria wants to tap into Zimbabwe’s rich natural resources and strong industrial base, a top government official from the northern African high-income country said yesterday.
The move comes as a huge vote of confidence in Harare and President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s drive to lure investment in the country to grow jobs and incomes at a time when there is high unemployment among the youth.
The economic interest of Algeria in Zimbabwe also marks a new chapter of engagement as the two countries’ ties date back to the pre-independence era.
Algiers was instrumental in supporting Zimbabwe’s struggle for independence from British colonial rule.
Yesterday, during the Zimbabwe-Algeria Business Dialogue held on the sidelines of the ongoing week-long Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2025), officials from both countries waxed nostalgic as they pledged to cement economic ties.
Rabah Fassih, director for promotion and support for economic exchanges in the Algerian Foreign Affairs ministry, told delegates, who comprised top trade officials at the meeting, that his country attaches “importance to diversifying trade and partnerships and fostering mutually beneficial investments”.
“Zimbabwe, with its rich natural resources, growing industry base and dynamic private sector, offers strong opportunities for collaboration with Algerian businesses,” he said.
Fassih said the “diverse opportunities and synergies existing in many sectors in Zimbabwe, such as agriculture, mining, manufacturing, tourism and services”, presented “undoubtedly a solid foundation for sustainable partnerships”.
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“It is the same case for Algeria, which offers many opportunities also in different sectors such as energy, renewable energies, pharmaceutical products, industry, tourism and others,” he said.
“As public authorities, our role for both sides is to ensure, as we are doing everyday, an enabling environment that facilitates trade, attracts investment and supports innovation.”
Rudo Faranisi, chief director — economic co-operation, international trade and diaspora in the Foreign Affairs and International Trade ministry, said Algeria as Zimbabwe’s strategic partner in North Africa present “immense opportunities” for collaboration in various sectors of the economy.
She said the country was looking at capacity building for growth.
“We have plenty in agriculture, it has been said, plenty in mining, it has been said again, and we also look to Algeria partnering us in areas such as hydrocarbons, so that we have access and progress in the areas of energy, manufacturing and industrialisation, it has also been mentioned already, just to cement. But in all this, we need capacity building,” Faranisi said.
Allan Majuru, ZimTrade chief executive officer, said Algerian businesses could partner local companies in the leather industry, especially in value addition.
The hydrocarbon-rich Algeria is opening up its previously closed economy and is also making forays outside North Africa in search of new markets.
Delegates at the forum noted that direct flights should be a priority to facilitate trade.
Presently, it takes more than 20 hours to travel from Harare to Algiers with connecting flights outside Africa.
Earlier during the ongoing IATF, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune vowed to work with willing African partners like Zimbabwe for mutual prosperity.
Majuru rallied Algerian investors to capitalise on the mineral and agriculture-wealthy Harare to deepen trade between the two countries.
