economy upfront Bound

Algeria’s Sonatrach has signed a $5.4 billion production-sharing contract with Saudi Arabia’s Midad Energy North Africa to explore and develop hydrocarbons in the Illizi Sud field, marking one of the country’s largest energy partnerships of 2025.

Algeria’s 2026 draft budget raises government spending above 17.6 trillion dinars, with a significant portion allocated to public salaries, subsidies for basic goods, and infrastructure investments. The plan anticipates 4.1% economic growth.

Tunisian SMEs say a new rule requiring a 20% bank guarantee for service contracts risks shutting them out of the market and harming the country’s business climate, with experts urging the government to revise the measure.

Factories that once hummed with activity along Mauritania’s Atlantic coast now stand silent, their doors shut as fish stocks plunge and communities struggle to adapt. In Morocco, the warning signs are just as stark—sardine landings in key southern ports have nearly halved, and locals worry that they might soon face the same fate as their neighbors to the south.