President Museveni on Friday, 13th December, 2024 received and held talks with Mr. Ahmed Attaf, the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, as part of his official visit in his capacity as a special envoy of President Tebboune and their discussion provided an opportunity to review the positive outcomes achieved in implementing the decisions made by both leaders—President Tebboune and President Museveni—during the latter’s state visit to Algeria in March 2023.
The agreements and MoUs were in the fields of energy, tourism, agriculture, animal health, education, and scientific research, and according to Minister Attaf, the Algerian President is personally following up on the implementation of all the decisions made.
He informed President Museveni that trade between the two countries has gone up and the coffee imports from Uganda have risen from 13 million dollars to 16 million dollars. He said milk imports have also risen from $800 million to $1 billion, and more Ugandan companies have been shortlisted to start exporting to Algeria.
On education, President Museveni was happy to learn that the number of scholarships offered by Algeria to Ugandan students in science-based courses has increased from 100 to 217 and is fully absorbed.
“I’m very happy with the message and I thank H.E. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune,” H.E Museveni said.
The second part of the message was to ask President Museveni to support Algeria in their bid to take the Vice Chairperson slot of the African Union Commission where Algeria’s Ambassador Selma Malika Haddadi is in the race with the Moroccan candidate Latifa Akharbach.
On his part, President Museveni informed his guest that for the chairmanship position, Uganda is supporting Kenya’s Raila Odinga not only in solidarity with East Africa but also because of the Pan-Africanist Odinga.
During this meeting, Minister Attaf delivered a written message from President Tebboune to President Museveni and conveyed fraternal greetings, expressing a desire to further strengthen Algerian-Ugandan relations and expand their collaborative efforts.
President Museveni and his guest also discussed issues on the African Union agenda, along with current continental and international matters, including developments in the occupied Palestinian territories and the broader Middle East region, as well as the decolonization process in Western Sahara.
