Algeria Positions Itself as Africa’s Strategic Trade Powerhouse: Driving Continental Integration Through Infrastructure, Energy, and the AfCFTA

Algeria Positions Itself as Africa’s Strategic Trade Powerhouse: Driving Continental Integration Through Infrastructure, Energy, and the AfCFTA

 

✍️ BY: Dr. Hana Saada

Algiers, Algeria |  Algeria is stepping decisively onto the continental stage, reinforcing its ambition to become a pivotal hub in intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the most ambitious economic integration project in Africa’s history.

 

Speaking at the Algeria 2025 Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2025) Business Roadshow, Minister of Foreign Trade and Export Promotion, Professor Kamal Rezig, stressed that Algeria’s strategy extends far beyond commercial exchanges. It rests on a vision of deep continental integration through bold infrastructure projects: the Trans-Saharan Highway, the Zouerate road linking Tindouf to Mauritania, the Nigeria-Algeria gas pipeline, and a pan-African fiber optic network. Together, these initiatives position Algeria not only as a trade partner but as a continental connector.

“The State has worked tirelessly to create a stable, transparent, and attractive environment for investment,” Rezig asserted, underlining reforms to simplify procedures, strengthen banking and insurance systems, develop capital markets, and harness human capital. “This is about adapting Algeria’s economy to global transformations while making the AfCFTA a tangible reality.”

Algeria’s share of intra-African trade has risen modestly to 2.2% in 2024, up from 1.9% in 2022, according to the 2025 African Trade Report. Hydrocarbons dominate exports at 91%, with Tunisia, South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Senegal as leading partners. On the import side, Mauritania, Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco, and Uganda occupy the top spots.

But the IATF2025, scheduled to take place in Algiers from September 4 to 10, is set to propel these numbers into a new dimension. As the continent’s premier biennial trade and investment event, organized by Afreximbank in partnership with the Algerian government, it will host more than 2,000 exhibitors and 35,000 buyers from over 140 countries, with projected deals surpassing USD 44 billion.

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Chair of the IATF2025 Advisory Council, hailed the event as a catalyst for economic emancipation:

“Through the AfCFTA, Africa can achieve self-sufficiency, industrialization, and job creation. The IATF is more than a fair—it is the marketplace of Africa’s future.”

Vice-President of Afreximbank, Kanayo Awani, echoed this sentiment, noting that Algeria has already reaped over USD 2 billion in deals from past editions. She underscored Algeria’s comparative advantages in energy, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, ICT, automotive assembly, and light manufacturing—all sectors primed for scaling up.

The fair will also highlight Africa’s creative industries through the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX), celebrating fashion, music, cinema, literature, and gastronomy, alongside the Africa Auto Show, youth entrepreneurship programs, and cultural exchanges with the diaspora.

By hosting the IATF2025, Algeria is not merely organizing another continental event—it is asserting its rightful place as a cornerstone of Africa’s economic architecture. In doing so, Algiers sends a clear message: Africa’s largest country by landmass is determined to match its geography with economic leadership, offering not only resources but vision and connectivity.

 

 

 

 

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