Africa Economy

ETIQUETTE: Algerians are warm and welcoming, and hospitality is a dearly-held value.

While the state remains a major player in the Algerian economy, recent years have seen an impetus towards the sale of stakes in public enterprises. In the mid-2000s the government had plans to privatise a majority stake in the state-owned bank Crédit Populaire Algérie (CPA) and a minority holding in fixed-line telecoms operator Algérie Telecom...

The Algerian government, with the backing of foreign donors, has been making efforts to develop the country’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). There are around 900,000 SMEs and, in October 2015, Rabea Kherfi, secretary-general of the Ministry of Industry and Mines, told media that the failure rate of companies in the segment had...

Hydrocarbons production remains central to the Algerian economy, worth AD4.66trn (€42.87bn) in 2014, or 27% of GDP – down from 29.8% the previous year and a recent peak of 35.8% in 2011. Hydrocarbons also account for around 97% of export revenues and 58% of government income. However, the sharp fall in oil prices since mid-2014 has put...

With industrial production increasing, construction projects breaking ground and transport activity rising, Algeria’s economy has benefitted from stable growth in a diverse array of sectors. However, oil and gas remain the lifeblood of the economy. As a result, the fall in the international price of oil since mid-2014 is having a substantial...

Algeria is a country rich in history and situated in a strategically important region. While its past has at times been turbulent, the last decade has been one of relative peace. As result, economic growth and development has followed, driven primarily by advances in the hydrocarbons sector.