Construction and Real Estate

Benefitting from the government’s push for transport infrastructure and public housing, and guided by a new capital-intensive five-year plan, the construction sector has been seeing constant activity. During the 2009-14 five-year period, authorities channelled $286bn to modernise transport infrastructure, expand energy production and improve urban housing. However, while the demand for construction materials and expertise is high, contracts have faced operational constraints. Despite these difficulties, Algeria’s comparative stability in the region continues to garner international interest for a host of development projects that will cover areas such as road and rail construction, energy production and water infrastructure.

As the government channels state funds into its public housing programme, growing private interest is stoking growth in the higher-end residential segment of Algeria’s real estate market along with office and commercial real estate. One positive aspect of the housing programme has been that it has attracted a larger number of foreign contractors to help increase the number of houses Algeria is able to build every year. This chapter contains interviews with Abdelkader Kadi, Minister of Public Works; and Lakhdar Rekhroukh, CEO, Cosider Group.