Abstract
The Algerian civil war, 1992–2002, affected all aspects of life in the country. Major development efforts were therefore initiated in the post-conflict era. Almost 20 years later, the economy remains fragile, and the country’s large hydrocarbon revenues have not been used to develop the infrastructure for sustainability, support energy transition or reduce structural vulnerabilities. This paper provides an overview of Algerian development strategies before and after the conflict, examining in particular the orientation of major development projects involving foreign financing. Two rural development programmes are described to illustrate the outcomes of such projects. The results show that the conflict stopped or hindered many ongoing and planned development projects in the country, especially in the agriculture sector, while new investments in industry started after the conflict. The review of individual development projects further revealed that many projects between 1980–2017 had doubtful benefits with respect to long-term development goals. Initiatives tended to be discontinued once the funding period closed, and the involvement of the private sector was low. It is therefore concluded that additional attention needs to be devoted to long-term and structural impacts of development projects, including considerations regarding sustainability, demographics, and climate-related future changes.
Highlights
Algeria is surrounded by Morocco, Mali, Niger, Libya, Tunisia and the Mediterranean Sea (Figure 1), with a total area of 2.382 million km2 and a total population of 41 million
The first was against French occupation, the Algerian War of Independence 1954–1962, which led to about 1 million deaths; the second was the civil war from 1992 to 2002, which led to more than 150,000 deaths
In the case of Algeria, he concludes that the major concerns of the international community during the civil war and post-conflict have been linked to stability and regional security rather than democracy
Summary
Algeria is surrounded by Morocco, Mali, Niger, Libya, Tunisia and the Mediterranean Sea (Figure 1), with a total area of 2.382 million km and a total population of 41 million. From 1985 onwards, many Algerians faced a decline in their standards of living since the government was unable to address the economic problems following the collapse of oil prices on world markets [22] Another conclusion in the literature on factors contributing to conflict is that, in general, poor rural areas are more likely to start violence than urban areas [23], while Hagelstein [24] has argued that violence or war is unlikely to take place in unpopulated areas. In the case of Algeria, he concludes that the major concerns of the international community during the civil war and post-conflict have been linked to stability and regional security rather than democracy. After the September attack in 2011, Algeria was able to gain support and improved international relations with USA and several European countries by the position it adopted in the ‘war against terrorism’ [28]
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