En Français On regional standardisation and leveraging the industry to embrace digitalisation How would you assess Algeria’s pharmaceuticals industry? HAISSAM CHRAITEH: The country has launched an ambitious strategy to develop domestic pharmaceuticals production. Both local companies and international players are already present in the country, producing pharmaceuticals to meet the rising demand…
Reaching a population of 42.3m by the end of 2018, Algeria is the second-largest country in North Africa after Egypt. The country is one of Africa’s most important producers of hydrocarbons and enjoys large reserves of shale oil and gas not commercially exploited. Although Algeria enjoys a relatively closed economy, it holds close trading links with its Mediterranean neighbours to the north, and
The rapid rate at which urban centres in Algeria are growing has put pressure on the country to develop an efficient and modern transport system. Although population growth rates have slowed slightly, from 2.2% in 2015 to 1.9% in 2017, the percentage of the population living in urban areas has risen steadily, from 72.1% in 2015 to 76% in 2018. Dealing with the increasing number of inhabitants…
Algeria has set ambitious targets for rail development, aiming to increase annual rail transport capacity to 17m tonnes of goods and 60m passengers by 2021. In 2017 annual capacity of cargo via rail reached 5m tonnes, while the number of passengers travelling via rail in the first 11 months of 2018 was 43m. Additionally, there are plans to extend the rail network from 4200 km in 2017 to 6500 km by…
Introduced to the market in 2016, 4G services have enjoyed significant expansion in Algeria, growing by 573% in 2017. As market competition drove down prices, 4G has been adopted by 9.87m subscribers as of end-2017, up from 1.46m subscribers a year earlier, according to the Post and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, which became the Regulatory Authority of Posts and Electronic Communications…
As ambitions to transition to some extent from an oil-driven economy to a tech-driven one, there is an effort to grow a culture of innovation. In January 2017 the Parliament adopted the orientation law for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), aimed at supporting the financing of start-ups and the development of an entrepreneurial culture. In addition to public initiatives,…
The goal of smart city design is to improve the standards of living for citizens by optimising resources through digital solutions. In addition to advancing the wilaya (province) of Algiers, the Algiers Smart City envisions setting a new baseline for technology development in other cities in Algeria and further abroad. Although the strategies used by each smart city vary, as they draw on a…
Algeria is at the crossroads of its very own technological revolution. While there are several challenges to address – including the development of supporting infrastructure – there is clear momentum to create a much-needed innovation ecosystem. In particular, the country has a unique opportunity to shape a new model for smart cities that is adaptable to emerging markets. The opportunity…
The Algiers Smart City project was launched in mid-2017 and has spearheaded a number of innovative projects, including a local start-up’s development of cloud and big data platform that secured global customers within its first year. Several other projects involving over 50 local engineers from are also in motion. Meanwhile, partnerships with four multinational firms were announced and executed…
With new hotel and tourism developments in the pipeline, Algeria is looking to boost job growth in the industry while developing the skills needed in the labour force. In addition, the 2021 Mediterranean Games are set to give training programmes a timely boost as host city Oran prepares to take centre stage. Indeed, the July 2018 opening of a branch of the Algiers Higher School of Hotel and…
