Djamel Eddine Bouabdallah is the president of the Algerian-Spanish trade and industry circle (CCIAE). He returns in this interview to the situation of trade relations between Algeria and Spain and the impact of the freezing of trade between the two countries on Algerian companies.
Nearly four months after the announcement of the freezing of trade between Algeria and Spain, what is the situation of trade relations between the two countries?
Since June 8, there have been no trade between the two countries, except for gas and oil. In 2021, trade between Algeria and Spain amounted to around $7 billion. On the Spanish side, they mainly imported gas and oil and some by-products and semi-finished materials.
While Algeria mainly imported raw and intermediate materials from Spain, spare parts, a few fattening bulls, and derisory quantities of food products. In 2021, we imported 2.8 / 2.9 billion euros from Spain.
But it must be said that even before the adoption, last June, of the measure relating to the freezing of trade between the two countries, Algerian imports from Spain had been affected by the policies of the State, and in particular by the protectionist policies implemented by Algeria at the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022.
Apart from gas, since June 8, there is absolutely no exchange between the two countries. Since that date, I have not come to know of a person who has succeeded in having his invoice domiciled, except for a few importers whose goods were already at sea. The situation of some has been regularized but others still suffer.
What is the impact of the freezing of trade relations between Algeria and Spain on Algerian companies?
The most penalized companies are Algerian industrial SMEs, in particular ceramic SMEs which imported their raw materials mainly from Spain, and in particular from the Castellón region ( a region specializing in ceramics).
I had the opportunity to discuss with manufacturers in this branch. The freezing of trade between the two countries poses a real problem for them. The quality/price ratio with Spanish suppliers was so good that it was unthinkable for them to consider using suppliers from other countries, whether Italians, French or Turkish.
Ditto for the paper industry, which was strongly impacted, given that we imported a lot of materials and in particular the paper pulp which came from Spain.
But the sector that has been most affected is unquestionably that of spare parts, for all product categories and all sectors combined.
Added to this are water desalination plants, the maintenance of which was held by Spanish companies, which even supplied chemicals and which were therefore inevitably affected by this measure.
We had, to a certain extent, an interconnected economy with Spain, mainly directed towards the industrial sector.
The big losers from the suspension of the Algerian-Spanish treaty seem to be Spanish companies, but their government has not taken this deal into account to support the Western Sahara autonomy plan. How do you explain it?
The Spanish government does not see the numbers the way companies do. He sees that Spain exports 300 billion euros, of which 2.8 only for Algeria. It’s not even 1% of their total exports. This is how the Spanish government sees things.
The political decision could only have been affected if the amount of exports from this country to Algeria were greater.
But it is clear that Spanish companies with direct interests with Algeria have lost a lot. It must have at least 600 or 700 companies. For these companies, the Algerian market is important.
The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs recently spoke of a return to normal between the two countries in the commercial field. What is it really?
I don’t know what he was referring to. So far, in Algeria, banks have still not been authorized to domiciliate import invoices from Spain. Maybe there are discussions going on right now, but I really don’t know what he was referring to.
Since the speech of the head of the Spanish government Pedro Sánchez at the UN, there is certain appeasement. Maybe there are negotiations going on right now and they will announce something new in a few days. I hope so, anyway.
I would like to believe what this minister is saying. But for the moment, I am in contact with certain banks, and they confirm to me that they are still not authorized to domicile the invoices. And even if some manage to domiciliate invoices, they are quickly overtaken by Customs and Algex (National Agency for the Promotion of Foreign Trade).
So you can confirm that there is really no exchange between the two countries currently?
Concretely, exports to Spain today boil down to oil and gas exports and shipping and freight operations. This is a separate sector governed by international regulations which are not affected by the problems of domiciliation.
Are there any Spanish companies that have left Algeria?
Since 2014, with the fall in the price of hydrocarbons, many Spanish companies have left Algeria, mainly those active in construction projects. There were fewer and fewer projects in Algeria. So they packed up.
But as for the industrial societies, they are still there. To my knowledge, there has not been a massive departure from these companies.
Those that have left are essentially those in the field of basic infrastructure. Many companies in this branch have left for lack of projects.
Things picked up speed in 2019 with the lower equipment budget. Since last June, there has been no participation of Spanish companies in the invitations to tender launched by Algeria.
In principle, they are not affected by the blocking but as there are transfers, we deduce that they are excluded from calls for tenders. They do not have the right to transfers, there are no exchanges, even in public markets. We deduce that these companies are excluded from calls for tenders.
There has been no attempt by a Spanish company to enter a project in Algeria since June.
