PARIS (HRNW) – French President Emmanuel Macron hopes his three-day trip to Algeria from Thursday will end a diplomatic row and allow him to develop his relationship with young Algerians, but the North African country s leaders may prove hard to win over.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune wants solid investment commitments – which seem unlikely to be announced this week – and for Macron to atone for comments he made last year about Algeria s history and its ruling elite.
For France, better relations with its former colony are growing more important because an energy shortage due to Russia s war in Ukraine has raised demand for North African gas, and because of growing migration across the Mediterranean.
Algeria meanwhile wants to take advantage of high energy prices to secure big contracts and investment projects, as it has already done with Italy and Turkey, locking in revenues that will help it ride out any lean years in future.
“Algeria wants strong economic relations and a serious partnership,” said an Algerian official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Macron s delegation will include the heads of hydrocarbons company Engie and tech company Free, but there will be no big business contracts, the Elysee said.
When Macron last visited Algeria in 2017 he was warmly greeted by young Algerians eager to contrast his youth with the old age of their own leaders and pleased he had described French colonial rule there as a “crime against humanity”.