Faki Mahamat: “We Hopefully Bet On African Institute of Water and Energy in Tlemcen”

African Union (AU) Commission President Moussa Faki Mahamat said that the African continent is betting heavily on the efforts of the African Institute for Water and Energy located in the city of Tlemcen (western Algeria), while pointing to the imperious need of investing in the human factor to ensure the advancement of the continent, especially as water and energy are the two main pillars in the sustainable development of the African continent.

Mr Faki Mahamat visited on Sunday the African Institute for Water and Energy Sciences (including climate change) at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Chitouane in Tlemcen, accompanied by Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Taher Hadjar and the German Ambassador in Algeria.

He considered that the continent, despite all its suffering in the past, has however all the fundamentals of advancement, especially with regard to the human factor, which is estimated at one billion and 200 million people.

The President of the African Union Commission also praised the clear-sightedness of the President of the Republic Mr.  Abdelaziz Bouteflika for the achievement and hosting by Algeria of the African Institute of Water and Energy Sciences, as the latter provides all the proper amenities and comfort for the enrolled lucky students, especially as they bear the dreams of an entire continent  for a brighter future. 

The delegation members then moved on to the University pole in Yamamah where they  saw for themselves the telling achievements of Algerian students and inaugurated there the  setting up of 30 brand-new scientific research laboratories. 

Earlier, African Union (AU) Commission President Moussa Faki Mahamat hailed Algeria’s “active support” for the implementation of the AU’s 2063 agenda.

“We are certain and we are not surprised at all with the active support of Algeria for the implementation of the 2036 agenda of the African Union, how useful for our continent,” said Faki Mahamat during a press briefing after an encounter on Saturday in Algiers with Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel.

Mr. Faki Mahamat, on a three-day working visit to Algeria, said he had exchanged views with Mr. Messahel on the continent’s integration issues as the last AU summit made important decisions, including the launch of African Continental Free Trade Area (ZLECA), a topic around which AU leaders will meet at a summit on March 21 in Kigali (Rwanda). 

He also hailed the presence of Algeria in the upcoming event and its support for this important project for the African continent.

The draft protocol related to the free movement of people, to the African passport, as well as the instrument linked to the common air transport market, are the three flagship projects of the AU Agenda 2063 which are currently under discussion across the continent, recalled Mr. Faki Mahamat.