* Row over Djezzy mobile phone firm heads for resolution
* May presage change in attitude to private investment
* Dependence on energy revenues may not be sustainable
* Pressing need to reduce youth unemployment
By Christian Lowe and Lamine Chikhi
ALGIERS, April 11 (Reuters) – After a three-year campaign
against one of its biggest foreign investors chilled Algeria’s
business climate, the country is sending out tentative signals
that it may be ready for a thaw.
A period of aggressive economic nationalism, symbolised by
the state’s drive to take control of the Djezzy mobile phone
business owned by Amsterdam-headquartered Vimpelcom, has
failed to create the jobs demanded by the population.
Now the Djezzy saga seems to be limping towards a
resolution, and this could coincide with a broader rethink of
how the government of energy-rich Algeria treats private
investment.
“It is obvious that foreign investment is key to creating
jobs, which will alleviate social pressure,” said Bachir Msitfa,
an Algerian economist. “This is why I am expecting changes in
the economy in 2012…Algeria will go back to a market economy
very soon.”
Continued…
