President Abdelmadjid Tebboune sent numerous reassuring messages this Thursday, November 16 to Algerian business leaders during a meeting on entrepreneurship in Algiers.
This is perhaps one of the reasons for the latest change at the head of government, with the replacement of Aïmene Benabderrahmane by Nadir Larbaoui.
The President of the Republic spoke this Thursday, November 16 on the economic situation of the country and spoke to business leaders about the famous “ committee of five ” ministers which distributed adjustments to businessmen. This affair, denounced by Saïda Neghza, had caused a lot of ink to be spilled.
Abdelmadjid Tebboune attended this Thursday, November 16 at the International Conference Center (CIC) in Algiers the closing of a three-day seminar organized by the Algerian Economic Renewal Council (Crea), on the sidelines of the World Week of Entrepreneurship.
“Entrepreneurship at the heart of Algerian economic renewal” is the theme chosen for this seminar to which all the elite of the Algerian economy are invited.
The new Prime Minister Nadir Larbaoui was also present. “I am in front of people of integrity”, indicated the Head of State, as a transition before evoking the “tragedy” and the practices of a “painful past”.
President Tebboune focused on these practices which have burdened the national economy and prevented it from achieving appreciable growth despite the enormous potential of the country and its geostrategic location of choice.
Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who recalled that during his short-lived stint as Prime Minister in 2017, he tried to separate politics from hidden money and to moralize political and economic life, reaffirmed his commitment to a definitive break with these practices which have destroyed “the country’s capabilities” in the service of “narrow interests”. “Our wealth was used to strengthen other countries,” he lamented, welcoming the fact that Hirak saved Algeria from “total collapse.”
The change was not without resistance from those who have “nostalgia for the past”, and recognized the head of state, however warning those who try to “put pressure on the State, by seeking to create television channels from abroad.
“No power can put pressure on Algeria, we have reached the point of no return in the defense of our sovereignty,” he assured, expressing the wish to “finally close” this issue of the past period.
Tebboune to economic operators: “You are on the right track”
This resistance to change is nevertheless marginal, recognized by President Tebboune. Regarding overbilling and the recent affair which caused a lot of discussion, Abdelmadjid Tebboune wanted to reassure economic operators that “no one will impose on them” more than they can bear.
More direct, he recognizes that the “committee of 5 ministers” which imposed hefty fines on businessmen accused of overbilling “exceeded its prerogatives”. “If there is reason to recover the State’s money, this will now be done through other means,” he assured.
The existence of this committee was denounced by the president of the General Confederation of Algerian Enterprises (CGEA), Saïda Neghza, in an open letter to the President of the Republic on September 7. A few days later, the president of Crea, Kamel Moula, announced the freezing of the committee following a meeting with the head of state.
Despite all his directives, certain blockages to investment persist in Algeria, lamented the President of the Republic, refusing for example that the walis issue “ provisional authorizations” to companies whose projects had remained blocked for several years.
He also cited the case of around a hundred companies in Blida that were unable to start their activities because of bureaucratic hassle linked to the passage of a gas pipe. The President of the Republic denounced the “mental underdevelopment” which generates “economic underdevelopment”, insisting on the fact that laws must be applied and problems resolved quickly. The question of industrial land, which remained unresolved for four years, was able to be resolved in 24 hours, he cited as an example.
On Tuesday, the President of the Republic had already insisted on the imperative for the government to implement the decisions of the Council of Ministers with the greatest speed.
That said, a lot has been done in the direction of lifting blockages and bureaucratic obstacles, welcomed the Head of State, recalling that the lifting of the blockage on 900 projects nationally allowed the creation of 22,000 direct jobs.
Referring to the state of the national economy, Abdelmadjid Tebboune reiterated his satisfaction with the progress made in four years. “You are on the right track,” he told the audience made up of economic operators.
Algeria is today working to build a wealth-creating knowledge economy, oriented towards exports and meeting national needs and based on startups and SMEs as well as the private sector.
The Algerian economy is today 85% private but remains largely dependent on state financing, noted the President of the Republic.
This constitutes an obstacle to efforts to decriminalize economic acts since, he explained, “where a cent of the State goes, it must be monitored and controlled”.
Mr. Tebboune called on the private sector to self-finance by moving, for example, towards investment in the banking sector, announcing in passing the opening of 30% of the capital of two or three public banks by the end of 2024.
