Frenchman Macron looks to the future as he travels to Algeria to mend relations

President Emmanuel Macron begins a three-day visit to Algeria on Thursday to improve ties with the former French colony, which celebrates its 60th anniversary of independence this year.

Macron, the first French president born after Algeria gained independence, hopes to lay “a foundation for rebuilding and developing” a sometimes difficult relationship with the North African nation, his office said.

Accompanied by seven ministers, Macron will be met by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune at around 15:00 (1400 GMT) at the airport in the capital Algiers.

The two heads of state will visit a memorial to the martyrs of the country’s War of Independence, which ended more than 130 years of French colonial rule with Algeria’s independence in 1962.

Since then, Franco-Algerian relations have repeatedly experienced crises.

The French leader, on his second visit to Algeria since taking power in 2017, “decided to steer this visit towards the future, (focusing on) start-ups, innovation, youth, new sectors,” the Elysee said on Tuesday.

Macron, along with a 90-strong delegation, will meet entrepreneurs in Algiers and young people in the second largest city, Oran.

Relations between Paris and Algiers have been particularly tumultuous since last year, when Macron questioned Algeria’s existence as a nation before French occupation and accused the government of inciting “hatred against France”.

In response, Tebboune withdrew his country’s ambassador and banned French military aircraft from its airspace.

But Macron’s office issued a statement saying he “regrets” the misunderstandings caused by his comments, and his staff believe both sides have moved on.

They note the resumption of normal diplomatic relations and overflights to French army bases further south in Africa.

Analyst Mansour Kedidir said that “given the instability in the Maghreb region, the conflicts in the Sahel and the war in Ukraine, improving relations between France and Algeria is a political imperative”.

Macron and Tebboune will discuss the situation in Algeria’s southern neighbor Mali, as well as the growing regional influence of Russia, Algeria’s main arms supplier.

France’s latest effort to mend ties comes as Algeria is trying to fill a major shortage of gas supplies to Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

European nations are trying to end their dependence on Russian hydrocarbons and give new clout to Algeria – Africa’s largest gas exporter with direct pipelines to Spain and Italy.

“The French president will certainly urge Algeria to make efforts to try to increase its gas production,” said Algerian economist Abderrahmane Mebtoul.

But Macron’s office said gas was not a key feature of the visit, and an adviser said the trip was about “looking to the future”.

Macron has long ruled out an apology on the highly sensitive issue of colonialism, but he has made a series of gestures aimed at healing past wounds.

In Algiers, few have sympathy for the French leader, who called French colonialism a “crime against humanity” in his first election campaign in 2017.

“Before he became president he used nice words, he visited (Algeria), but right after he returned to France he changed,” said computer scientist Othmane Abdellouche, 62. “He used a completely different discourse.”

French historians say that half a million civilians and combatants died during Algeria’s bloody war of independence, 400,000 of them Algerians. The Algerian authorities speak of 1.5 million dead.

Tebboune’s office said in October that over 5.6 million Algerians were killed during the colonial era.

Algerian human rights groups have also urged Macron not to ignore human rights abuses by the government, which came to power after longtime leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned in 2019.

Tebboune, a prime minister under Bouteflika, has cracked down on the Hirak opposition movement that forced his predecessor to resign.