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Explosive social unrest across the Maghreb region
The North Africa Journal - May 24, 2017 - The Maghreb countries of North Africa are facing an unprecedented level of social and labor unrest. The Ramadan season, slated to start at the end of this month, will likely be quiet on the social front. But what we see in...
Algerian elections: A vote of no confidence for an emperor without clothes
The North Africa Journal- May 11, 2017: In a short story published in 1837, Danish author Hans Christian Andersen wrote about two cloth makers who offered the emperor a new kind of royal robe they say was invisible to those who were unfit for their positions, stupid,...
The Algerian legislative elections: the results
The North Africa Journal - May 7, 2017: The Algerian ministry of interior says voter participation was 38.25% on 4 May, down 6% compared to the 2012 legislative elections. Out of 23,251,503 registered voters, only 8,528,355 of them voted. A number of civil society...
Algeria to require food industry to certify its products Halal
North Africa Journal- May 4, 2017: The Algerian government will require food vendors to certify their product to the Halal standard. The requirement is expected to be gradually rolled out starting June 2017, per a multi-ministerial decree. Authorities are currently...
Uncertainty over Italy’s renewal of key gas deal with Algeria
The North Africa Journal - May 4, 2017: Since the beginning of the year, Italy has been sending mix signals about the renewal of its gas contract with Algeria. The current multi-year deal comes to an end in 2019, which the Italian Minister of Economic Development...
Despite economic hardship, defense spending in North Africa & Sahel on the rise
The North Africa Journal | April 27, 2017: Despite severe economic performances affecting the countries’ revenues, North Africa, including the Sahel, witnessed an increase in military expenditure in 2016, growing 2.2% to US$ 21.264 billion versus 2015. The...
Algeria reinforces troops in southeast border, as crisis deepens in south Libya
The North Africa Journal - April 27, 2017: Although Algeria has been deploying more military assets along its western and southern borders, its biggest concern by far these days remains the potential for incursion of all sorts of militants from Libya. The Algerian...
Algeria braces for voter apathy in May 4 legislative elections, low turnout expected
The North Africa Journal - April 23, 2017 - Campaigning for the legislative elections slated for 4 May 2017 in Algeria is in full swing, and most observers and analysts agree that voter interest is at its lowest. The usual posters that dominated the campaign landscape...
Algeria: Government to propose bill on doctrinal deviation (By MEA Risk)
The minister of religious affairs, Mohammed Aissa, has announced that a draft bill targeting "doctrinal deviation" is in preparation. "It is not a law that targets other religions, which are protected by the Algerian constitution. However, we want to protect Algerians...
Algeria: Ailing President appears on TV, but uncertainty persists
The North Africa Journal - March 22, 2017- Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika reappeared in a brief video broadcast by national television, showing him meeting Maghreb and African affairs minister Abdelkader Messahel to discuss regional affairs. Although the...
Algeria: Major controversy over replacement of Sonatrach CEO
The North Africa Journal - March 20, 2017 - The CEO of the Algerian company Sonatrach is a very powerful man. Undoubtedly he has powers that exceed those of many ministers, and so appointing the right person should be no trivial exercise. Except that when politics...
New activity on the Western Sahara conflict, but no one knows where this is headed
The North Africa Journal - March 6, 2017 - The UN envoy to the Western Sahara Christopher Ross has handed over his resignation to the new UN chief Antonio Guterres. The news came days after Moroccan troops made a symbolic retreat from the contested area of...
Algeria: Massive weapons cache found near Niger border
MEA Risk Alert: March 5, 2017: The Algerian army has discovered, on 4 March, a massive weapons cache near the Nigerien border in In Guezzam. The cache contained six Kalashnikov machine guns, a FMPK heavy machine gun, a RPG-7 rocket launcher, three Simonov...
Algeria: Police foil suicide attack in Constantine
The North Africa Journal: February 27, 2917: A suicide attack targeting a police station in Bab el-Kantara, in the Algerian province of Constantine, was foiled on February 26, 2017. A suicide bomber was seeking to enter the police station, but was prevented to do so...
Labor Unions: Localized and segmented unions in North Africa seek better coordination
The North Africa Journal - Feb 21, 2017: Labor protests have been a major source of the heightened level of social unrest across the region. This past week saw its share of trade union unrest, largely driven by a labor sector that has regulations largely seen as...
Algeria: Tensions deepen among the opposition over legislative elections
Tension between the opposition parties Jil Jadid (New Generation) and the Islamist-leaning Movement for Society and Peace (MSP) have intensified this week after former presidential candidate and Jil Jadid chief Soufiane Djilali, accused the Islamist Abderrazak Makri...
Outlook: Yet another cycle of uncertainty for the region
As the armed forces and security services manage to control, to a certain extent, the terror threat, the Greater North Africa region is facing unprecedented political tension, social stress and economic despair. Data for all countries in the North Africa zone,...
Instability in North Africa and Sahel claims over 8,500 deaths in 2016. MEA Risk expects 2017 to be another crisis year
Miami, FL – MEA Risk LLC - The North Africa and Sahel zone witnessed a 16.0% increase in the number of destabilizing critical incidents in 2016 to a total of 11,916, according to MEA Risk LLC. Despite such increase, MEA Risk’s Instability Index, measuring the crisis...
Algerian authorities confronted with localized labor unrest, escalation in 2017
While the Algerian authorities continue to focus a great deal of attention and resources on preventing attacks from Islamic militant groups, the erosion in state revenues is forcing them to push for new austerity measures that are creating a lot of tension nationwide....
More Belt-Tightening Ahead for Algeria
The North Africa Journa: October 2, 2016: Algeria continues to seek cost containment measures, with growing expectation of fuel price increases in 2017 aimed at reducing the projected budget deficit of $2.6 billion. There is also pressure on the government to freeze...
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