From our Special Correspondent in Algeria, Meriem Khdimallah
President Kaïs Saïed at the Opening of IATF 2025: "The African Dream of Past Generations will Live on and Become a Reality" The President of the Republic, Kaïs Saïed, delivered a speech on Thursday, September 4, 2025, during the official opening ceremony of the 4th edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF 2025), held at the Abdelatif Rahal International Conference Center in Algiers. Alongside his Algerian counterpart, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, other heads of state, African delegations, and high-ranking officials, the head of state called for a comprehensive project that goes beyond simple economic issues and advocates for a new African and global order based on justice, equity, and the sovereignty of peoples. "Africa must belong to Africans," Kaïs Saïed affirmed, emphasizing the need for the continent to regain full control over its wealth and future. "Our people can no longer live in a continent that is rich in resources but where young people die in poverty and populations suffer from hunger," he said, in a speech that highlighted the challenges but also the hopes of a sovereign and united Africa. The African Dream, Between Memory and Reality Looking back on the history of pan-Africanism, the Tunisian president recalled the creation of the Organization of African Unity in the 1960s, born out of the "dream of the pioneers" after independence. However, he regretted that this dream was quickly tarnished by "divisions, wars, and the plundering of resources," paving the way for new forms of exploitation. Nevertheless, he emphasized that this hope remains alive: "The dream of past generations continues to inhabit us today and will inhabit future generations. This dream will become a reality, because it is in line with the course of history." On another level, while recognizing the importance of the sectors targeted by IATF 2025 (agriculture, industry, energy, research, innovation, health, transport, and startups), President Kaïs Saïed insisted on a broader vision. "What we have before us is not just a sectoral project. It's a civilization project, a global project, based on new thinking and new concepts," he said, estimating that African cooperation must be rethought on equitable and independent bases. "We must cooperate with the rest of the world, but on the basis of our own interests. There is no imposed hierarchy between nations," he added, denouncing international texts and agreements that have long consecrated injustice. For a More Human New World Order Expanding his reflection beyond the African framework, the President of the Republic advocated for "a new human order, based on unprecedented values and visions capable of putting an end to wars, divisions, and injustices." He recalled that Tunisia, proud of its Africanity, had itself suffered from choices imposed from outside. And, linking the African destiny to that of dispossessed peoples, he once again reaffirmed his support for the Palestinian cause: "International cooperation will only be complete when the Palestinians have fully regained their rights to all of Palestine." While warning against forces that, "in broad daylight or in the shadows," try to bring Africa back to its dark past to sabotage any development attempt, President Kaïs Saïed expressed his optimism. According to him, the sincere determination of African peoples will ultimately impose a new reality. "With this sincere will, this determination, and this lucid look at the past, history will be able to proclaim its repentance... The path is traced. This is the true means," he concluded.
