s the dismantling
of state-run industries and enterprises accelerates, so too must the
flow of foreign investment to modernise the economy. Algeria has watched
closely how countries on the other side of the Mediterranean operate
and is now expanding its own agency, the National Agency for the Development
of Investment (ANDI), to attract investors.
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Barely
18 months old, ANDI is bringing onstream two further regional offices
to add to its original four. The extra offices are vital, says
Abdelmadjid Baghdadli, the General Director, to provide
up-to-the-minute information for investors.
ANDI replaced its predecessor APSI, the former
national investment promotion agency, whose only office was in Algiers.
The new agency currently has offices at Oran, Annaba and Ouargla, as
well as Algiers. “The first improvement we made was to get closer
to investment promoters,” says Mr Baghdadli. “Our establishment
at the regional level enables us to work more quickly and to have a
better knowledge of the availability of local investment opportunities.”
The new offices are being set up at Blida and Constantine. Blida will
be an important office as it covers the country’s large central
region, where it is hoped up to 50 per cent of investments will be directed.
One of the key tasks of the agency is to manage
a portfolio of real estate that has accumulated from the liquidation
of state enterprises. “As part of the dismantling of the public
sector, there are important amounts of real estate available and these
need to be managed in an organised way,” says the General Director.
A
land availability database is constantly being added to and
is open for the perusal of potential investors. “For any investment,
real estate is the first link in the chain, because to launch a product
you have to have land,” he says. “Now that we have formed
business partnerships with local authorities, we are able to say what
investment opportunities each area can offer.”
Real
estate is the first link in the investment chain
Mr Baghdadli points out that there is a dual property
market in Algeria – the state and the private sector: “We
are not obliged to go to the state to obtain land, because there is
a private real estate market.” However, he adds that the state
can offer investors land “in a privileged environment”.
This is primarily real estate in Algeria’s
72 industrial zones and 500 “activity zones”, where many services
and utilities are already in place and where the investor can benefit
from allowances. The area of this available land totals 55,600 acres.
Because of the concentration of industry in and around Algiers, land
for further development in the capital region is at a premium. But Mr
Baghdadli says there are “extremely interesting” parcels of
land in other cities and along the coast.
He speaks of a “virgin field” open to
investors for many years to come, but says that the country is looking
for long-term projects rather than speculative investment. “We
need foreign investors in order to strengthen our technological capacities
and the management of our enterprises. In return, we offer some extremely
interesting business opportunities,” Mr Baghdadli adds.
He mentions the size of the Algerian market –
the country is the largest in North Africa and has a population of 32
million. “Algeria is at the interface of Europe and Africa –
we are a gateway between the two – and we could become an important
export manufacturing centre. Certainly, costs are lower in Algeria than
in Europe,” he says.
Agriculture and food processing are two of the
most promising areas of investment, he adds. The government is also
encouraging the development of small and medium-sized manufacturing
enterprises.
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