Algiers, Algeria, 26 January 2026 (ECA) - UN Economic Commission for Africa Executive Secretary Claver Gatete met today with President Abdelmajid Tebboune at the start of his first work visit to the country, to strengthen cooperation with Algeria and identify priorities for bilateral cooperation.

During the meeting, President Tebboune expressed his strong intention to strengthen cooperation with ECA, with a focus on strategic priority areas including statistics, public policy monitoring, digitalization, governance, and South-South cooperation.

Africa is capable of achieving extraordinary results, including in manufacturing and high-technology, said President Tebboune, who stressed the importance of industrialization in helping to reduce unemployment and dependency on imports. He also stressed that development must go beyond macroeconomics and should include human development and income redistribution.

The ECA Executive Secretary Mr Gatete is currently on a work visit to North Africa, to meet with government officials in Algeria, Mauritania and Morocco, for a deeper firsthand understanding of their countries' development priorities, needs and areas of support and to explore shared opportunities for increased South-South cooperation.

This week's visit, which coincides with the ECA leadership team retreat in Algeria, also comes against the backdrop of ongoing preparations for the 2026 Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (COM2026) to be held from 28 March to 3 April 2026 under the theme: "Growth through innovation: harnessing data and frontier technologies for the economic transformation of Africa".

Note to Editors:
The UN Economic Commission for Africa was established by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1958 as one of the UN's five regional commissions. Its mandate is to promote the economic and social development of its member States, foster intra-regional integration, and promote international cooperation for Africa's development.

Based in Morocco since 1963, the ECA Office for North Africa strives to enhance the environment for accelerated and inclusive growth and sustainable development through support to economic diversification, fiscal management, regional integration and a better recognition of migrant workers' economic contributions. The office also focuses a significant share of its work on issues faced by middle-income countries.

For more information about this visit, please send an email to [email protected]; or a WhatsApp message to (+212) 673 734 462).

For more information about COM2026, please visit: https://www.uneca.org/eca-events/cfm2026.
Registration: Participants are requested to register online on the Indico UN web page for the Conference: https://indico.un.org/event/1021509/

Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: [email protected]
Fifty-eighth session of the Economic Commission for Africa: Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development | Events | United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
Registration Participants are requested to register online on the Indico UN web page for the Conference https://indico.un.org/event/1021509/