French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said "sport was given pride of place" in the collaboration agreement with Algeria, boosting relations prior to the Games in two years' time.

Oudéa-Castéra met Algerian Sports Minister Abderezak Sebgag in Algeria where they signed a declaration to cooperate on sporting infrastructure, training, exchanges of expertise and major sporting events.

The signing was done in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron and his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

Relations between the two countries had been shaky ground since last year when Macron questioned Algeria's existence as a nation before the French occupation and accused its "political-military system" of fomenting "hatred toward France".

His comments prompted Tebboune to withdraw his country’s ambassador and barred French military planes from its airspace.

Diplomatic ties have since been repaired with Macron and Tebboune declaring yesterday a "new, irreversible dynamic of progress" between France and Algeria following a three-day visit by the French Prime Minister.

"France and Algeria have decided to open a new era," a joint statement from Macron and Tebboune read.

Last month, Algeria celebrated 60 years of independence following 132 years of French rule and a brutal eight-year war for indepenence which ended in 1962.

During his visit to Algeria, Macron and Oudéa-Castéra met Algerian athletes preparing for Paris 2024, including world boxing silver medallist Imane Khelif.

They also witnessed a demonstration of breaking which is set to make its Olympic debut in the French capital.

The French delegation included boxer Sarah Ourahmoune, who claimed flyweight silver at Rio 2016, and novelist Kamel Daoud.