Skip to main content

Corrupt economy fuels Algerian revolt

The North African country’s rentier model is collapsing.
Technicians inspect the Krechba gas treatment plant, about 1200 km (746 miles) south of Algiers December 14, 2008. Algeria has approved or plans to approve projects expected to bring on up to 110,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil output and 100,000 bpd of oil equivalents by 2012 or 2013, a Sonatrach official said on Sunday. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra (ALGERIA) - GM1E4CF0CLZ01

Algeria’s Feb. 22 uprising against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s two-decade rule coincided with the exhaustion of an economic model based on the unequal redistribution of the country’s energy wealth. Even before the ailing leader’s bid for a fifth term triggered the current political crisis, some experts had been saying the country could experience an economic crisis in the next few years absent an unlikely long-term hike in oil prices.

The continuing overall drop on the world market has laid bare the Algerian economy’s structural weaknesses. With hydrocarbon exports still making up more than 30% of the economy absent any real effort at diversification, Algiers has been printing money for the past two years: From late 2017 through January 2019, more than 6 trillion dinars — $50 billion — have been put on the market.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.