The Algerian government has confirmed that it would restart energy supplies to Cuba and donate a solar plant to help the island nation tackle its chronic power cuts.
This announcement was made on Thursday November 17, 2022, as Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel visited Africa’s biggest gas exporter, his first stop on a tour that will also include Russia, Turkey and China.
Algeria will “grant Cuba a solar power plant and resume the supply of fuel to allow Cuba to restart power plants and stop the power cuts,” Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune told reporters.
He also vowed to cancel interest payments on Cuban debt, without specifying figures.
Diaz-Canel said this was an “important” demonstration of support.
Since May this year, Cuba has been facing both frequent power cuts and fuel shortages.
Algeria and Cuba have had friendly relations for decades, with the first Cuban doctors dispatched to the North African country in 1963, just a year after its independence from France.
Diaz-Canel said he and Tebboune had a “convergence of views on international and regional issues of common interest”.