Algeria

With an extensive array of public works projects stretching across sectors as varied as transport, tourism, construction materials and culture, opportunities are numerous for further exploitation in Algeria’s construction sector. Roads are a priority, and special efforts have been made to develop urban rail systems as an additional measure to help ease congestion. Projecting an estimated value of...

Although underdeveloped by both international and regional standards, Algeria’s insurance market has seen rapid growth in recent years. Publicly owned insurance firms dominate the sector and held a market share of 70.2% in the first quarter of 2012. Accounting for 91.4% of the total in 2011, property and casualty products make up the majority of premiums, while the life market share stood at 7.6...

Operational since 1999, the Algerian stock exchange, Bourse d’Alger, is characterised by low levels of activity and liquidity, with just three equities and two corporate bonds currently listed and government bonds accounting for over 90% of trading. The total volume of transactions on the bourse was €36.8m in 2011, down from €47.8m in 2010. Trading of government bonds accounted for €33.7m of this...

Algeria is ranked the fourth-largest producer of crude oil in Africa, with an estimated 12.2bn barrels of proven reserves as of January 2012. The country was also estimated to have 159trn cu feet (tcf) of proven natural gas reserves as of January 2012 and produced 2.83 tcf of natural gas in 2010. Given its substantial reserves, Algeria has maintained its position as a major global player in the...

Oil and gas production continues to dominate the Algerian economy, accounting for almost all of exports, close to half of government revenue and over a third of GDP. Hydrocarbons accounted for 34.7% of GDP in 2010, up on 2009 rates, but still lower than the figures of between 43% and 45% seen in the three preceding years. The decline is primarily attributed to a fall in oil prices. To diversify...

Algeria is the largest African country by geographical size, as well as the largest country in the Mediterranean region. Although 85% of the country is desert, Algeria is topographically diverse, in particular in the north, which consists of the Tell Atlas, the High Plateaux and the Saharan Atlas. Roughly 91% of the population lives in less than 13% of the country’s territory, mostly in the north...