Algeria - The African Mirror

Feb

2024

Algeria and Mauritania open border gate to boost trade

THE presidents of Algeria and Mauritania opened a gate at the border of the two North African countries to strengthen bilateral ties and boost trade. The leaders have also agreed to set up a free trade zone and build an 847-kilometre (526-mile) road that will link the Algerian town of Tindouf to Mauritania's Ezouirat. "Hotels, restaurants, taxi drivers and workers in the public sector and housing sectors are happy," Dida Abdewahab, a Tindouf resident, told Reuters. The agreement comes a few days after OPEC member Algeria announced it would invest $442 million in energy projects in Mali, Niger and Libya.…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

Algeria’s Sonatrach to supply Germany with pipeline gas for first time

NEWS

Germany will receive its first supplies of pipeline natural gas from Algeria under a medium-term contract signed between a subsidiary of trader VNG AG and state-owned oil and gas firm Sonatrach, the companies said on Thursday. "We are happy to strengthen our energy business partnerships with Europe through this landmark agreement with the company VNG," Sonatrach CEO Rachid Hachichi said in a statement. This makes VNG the first German company to purchase pipeline gas from Algeria, the statement cited VNG's CEO as saying. The agreement is with Leipzig-based VNG Handel & Vertrieb GmbH (VNG), a wholly owned subsidiary of VNG…

Feb

2024

By MICHELLE NICHOLS

Algeria pushes UN Security Council to demand Gaza ceasefire

NEWS

ALGERIA has drafted a U.N. Security Council resolution to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a move that the United States - a council veto power - opposes because it says it would only benefit the Palestinian militants. The draft, seen by Reuters on Thursday, also "rejects the forced displacement of the Palestinian civilian population" and again demands all parties comply with international law and calls for full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access into and throughout the entire Gaza Strip. Algeria shared the draft with the 15-member council on Wednesday, diplomats said, after the body met to…

Oct

2023

By The African Mirror

Algeria’s state oil and gas firm Sonatrach plans $1 billion project for natural carbon storage

NEWS

ALGERIA'S state oil and gas firm Sonatrach has plans for a $1 billion project for natural carbon storage through planting 420 million trees over 10 years, Algeria's Ennahar TV reported, citing Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab as saying. Arkab added that Algeria, a major gas exporter, aimed to have renewables accounting for 30% of its energy mix by 2035, Ennahar reported.

Oct

2023

By The African Mirror

Hamas-Israel conflict: Algeria offers to host Palestine’s football matches – the bigger history

FOOTBALL

PALESTINE was about to embark on its 2026 men’s Fifa World Cup qualifying campaign when the latest round of Hamas-Israeli conflict broke out, making Palestine’s national football stadium in the Israeli-occupied West Bank potentially unsafe for matches. As a result, the Asian Football Confederation asked the football-loving nation to stage its home matches in a neutral venue. Algeria in North Africa offered to host Palestine’s games and cover its players’ costs. Mahfoud Amara is a specialist in the intersection of sport and politics with a particular research focus on football in the Arab world. We asked him three questions. MAHFOUD…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Algeria win to join teams qualified for 2024 Africa Cup of Nations

FOOTBALL

MARK GLEESON ALGERIA secured a place at the next Africa Cup of Nations finals with a 1-0 away win over Niger that ensured a top-two finish in their qualifying group with two games to go. They will join neighbours Morocco, who qualified last Friday without kicking a ball, in the field of 24-team for the finals in the Ivory Coast next January. Nigeria, Congo, Guinea, Sudan and the Central African Republic, who have never previously qualified for the finals, were also winners on Monday. Algeria's Baghdad Bounedjah slipped through the defence in the fifth minute to put the visitors ahead…

Oct

2022

By The African Mirror

Stellantis signs framework deal for Fiat vehicle production in Algeria

BUSINESS

CARMAKER Stellantis said it had signed a framework agreement with Algeria to develop activities of its Fiat brand in the county, including for local production of vehicles. The deal covers a project for the development in Algeria of industrial, after-sales and spare parts activities for Fiat, as well as the development of the automotive sector in the country, Stellantis said in a statement, after signing the agreement with the director of cooperation of Algeria's industry ministry. The world's fourth-largest carmaker, which houses brands including Peugeot, Citroen, Alfa Romeo, Jeep and Opel, did not provide further details about the activities it…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Algeria says Morocco attacked truck convoys in border area

NEWS

ALGERIA condemned what it called an attack by Morocco against a convoy of trucks in the border area between Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara, saying it will jeopardize United Nations attempts to ease regional tensions. The purported attack took place on Sunday morning in the Ain Bentli region, according to Algerian press reports. "Algeria strongly condemns the targeted assassinations committed by using sophisticated weapons of war ... against civilians," a statement released by Algeria's foreign affairs ministry said. There was no immediate reaction from Mauritania or Morocco. Morocco considers sparsely populated Western Sahara a part of its…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

U.S. says it repatriated a Guantanamo Bay detainee to Algeria

NEWS

THE United States has repatriated to Algeria a man who was held at Guantanamo Bay for nearly two decades after being accused of conspiring with al Qaeda, the Department of Defense said on Saturday. The department identified the man as Sufiyan Barhoumi, a native of Algeria, and said his detention at the U.S. military base was "no longer necessary." Barhoumi had arrived at Guantanamo Bay in 2002, the year the base's detention camp was set up following a U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in pursuit of the al Qaeda network behind attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, the…

Mar

2022

By The African Mirror

Ukraine crisis will not impact Algeria’s wheat imports -official tells Ennahar TV

NEWS

ALGERIA, one of the world's biggest importers of wheat, said that the crisis in Ukraine will not impact its imports, an unnamed source from the state grains importer was quoted as saying by Ennahar TV on Saturday. Algeria does not rely on one supplier but several as its market is open for competition, the source, from the Office Algerien Interprofessionnel des Cereales (OAIC), added. Ukraine and Russia, which launched an invasion of its neighbour on Thursday, are both major grain exporters.