An Algerian politician calls on President Tebboune to undermine relations with the UAE and restore the national companies it owns

Louisa Hanoun during her meeting with President Tebboune. The photo is from the Facebook page of the Presidency of the Algerian Republic

The Secretary-General of the Workers' Party in Algeria, Louisa Hanoun, called, during a meeting with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, forundermining relations with the Emiratesand nationalizing companies. The national government seized control of it, because of what it said were “the hostile actions carried out by this country against Algeria.”

Hanoun explained in a detailed presentation of her meeting with President Tebboune, that she emphasized “the danger represented by the UAE, as it declared war on our country through plans A criminal attempt to be carried out to destabilize our country in the service of the Zionist entity, which raises the need to undermine its presence in our country in defense of its integrity, sovereignty and security.”

She stated in her statements about the reason for submitting this request, that “the UAE has left no harm that it has not done in the region. It is flooding our country with drugs across the border with Libya, and it is inciting war between Algeria and Morocco by exploiting the presence of the Zionist entity in this country, and it wants to isolate Algeria by pushing Mauritania and Tunisia.” For normalization, it is introducing weapons and planting spies in the region to undermine the stability of Algeria.”

She considered that the time had come to restore the so-called Emirati investments, which are evident in the exploitation of the capital’s port and the National Tobacco and Sulfur Company, the second taxpayer to the public treasury, considering that these investments are a front for the entity to penetrate our institutions.

It also called for preventing any deal between the UAE and the People's National Army, considering that this is very dangerous to Algerian national security, noting that there has been a partnership for the production of military cars between Algeria, the UAE and the German Mercedes company for years.

Hanoun’s speech coincides with what the Algerian radio reported, citing its sources, that the UAE granted 15 million euros to Morocco in order to launch a media campaign and campaigns on social forums with the aim of striking the stability of the Sahel countries. She highlighted that “this campaign also aims to spread false news and malicious propaganda with the aim of creating a charged atmosphere in relations between Algeria and the Sahel countries.” According to the radio, this budget will be used to buy shares in some media outlets in France and Africa.

In this context, Hanoun stressed in her meeting with President Tebboune what she said was “the reactionary role played by the Arab League, as it has turned into a den of normalizers who contribute to besieging the Palestinian people in the service of the Zionist entity, and accordingly our country’s membership in this entity has negatively affected its positions and principles.” Which raises the necessity of distinguishing himself from his decisions, that is, disavowing them.”

Regarding the Palestinian issue, Hanoun conveyed President Tebboune’s emphasis on the Algerian state’s respect for all its obligations towards the Palestinian people, while highlighting the obstacles that prevent the delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip and contributing to taking care of the injured and sick.

She also said that she exchanged views with the President on ways to loosen the tight stranglehold on the Palestinian people and the unprecedented popular support at the global level for the Palestinian cause. In this context, she said that she touched on the need of the Algerian people to make their voice heard, especially since there is a national consensus on the Palestinian issue.

Regarding internal politics in Algeria, Hanoun stressed “the necessity of strengthening our country’s immunity and ability to withstand by addressing the problems that weaken it and expose it to external blackmail,” as “I stressed the need to take political calming measures with regard to prisoners of conscience by finding formulas that allow their release, and I called for Opening the media field, starting with public media, as a guarantee until all private media outlets are liberated, and I also called for a review of the trade union law,” she said.

Nigeria must do more for the economy, says World Bank

The World Bank recognizes the efforts made by the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to improve Nigeria's economic situation, but insists on the need to continue reforms, in a semi-annual report published on Wednesday.

It is "time to take the next step by implementing fiscal and monetary measures in the short and medium term", recommended in a press release Shubham Chaudhuri, director of the Bank in Nigeria.

The institution expects "results", in the continent's leading economy which is also one of the countries where poverty is the highest.

Quickly after taking office in May, the new Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu undertook two major reforms at the same time intended to restore public finances and once again attract foreign investment.

He notably called for the end of fuel subsidies and initiated the liberalization of the naira, the national currency.

These measures had immediate effects on the country's economy, including the tripling of fuel prices and inflation which stood at more than 27% in October over the last twelve months.

Since May, the naira has lost 41% of its value against the dollar on the official foreign exchange market and 30% on the parallel market, and the price of food increased by more than 31%.

Poverty in Africa's most populous country rose from 40% in 2018 to 46% in 2023, according to the World Bank, affecting 104 million people in 2023 compared to 79 million five years earlier.

These reforms were "essential" and "are going in the right direction", according to the World Bank but it is necessary to "take additional measures", starting with remedying the "lack of transparency on oil revenues" and the gains brought to public finances by the end of fuel subsidies.

The objective is to achieve "annual growth of 3.5% over the period 2023-2026" or "0.5 points more than if the reforms had not been launched", estimates the Bretton Woods institution .

When presenting his budget to parliament at the end of November, President Tinubu called for the population's patience and assured that the negative effects of his measures would be temporary.

It expects a reduction in inflation to 21.4% and growth of at least 3.76% in 2024.