France and Algeria

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Political relations

The French-Algerian relationship is unique, because of our deep human and historical ties. The last visit by the French President to Algiers on 6 December 2017 set the tone for a deeper relationship. He wanted to send three messages to our partners: the shared desire to move forward together on remembrance; a call to open up the Algerian economy with support for mutual investment; and the desire for a relationship that better addresses the expectations of young people.

The fourth High-Level Intergovernmental Committee (CIHN) meeting, co-chaired by the two Prime Ministers and involving six ministers on each side, was held in Paris on 7 December 2017, giving rise to eleven agreements in five sectors: health, vocational training in the electricity sector, agrifood, entrepreneurship and higher education.

The sixth joint economic meeting (COMEFA) was held in Algiers on 12 March 2020, co-chaired by the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs and his Algerian counterpart. The meeting was an opportunity to address all matters relating to the economic and trade cooperation between our two countries.

The French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, visited Algiers on 21 January 2020, 15-16 October 2020, 8 December 2021 and 13 April 2022.

Furthermore, discussions with our Algerian partners on remembrance matters have found new impetus: the remains of 24 Algerian combatants from the 19th century, conserved at the French National Natural History Museum, were returned to Algeria on 3 July 2020. Following the recommendations in the Stora report on the remembrance of colonization and the Algerian War, submitted to President Macron on 20 January 2021, on 2 March of that year, the President acknowledged France’s responsibility in the torture and assassination of Ali Boumendjel on 23 March 1957. On 9 March 2021, he decided to facilitate the declassification of the Algerian War archives. On 16 October 2021, President Macron was the first French Head of State to commemorate the events of 16 October 1961, for their 60th anniversary.

The trip made by the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs to Algiers on 8 December 2021 restored our bilateral relationship.

French presence

French consulates: Algiers, Annaba, Oran
French community in Algeria: 32,812 French citizens in 2021
Algerian community in France: 623,145 Algerians holding a French residence permit as of 2020, excluding binational citizens   

Visits

2022

  • 25 June - Ms Oudéa-Castera, Minister of Sport and the Olympic and Paralympic Games
  • 13 April - Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs
  • 2021
  • 8 December - Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs

2020

  • 7-8 November - Mr Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior
  • 15-16 October - Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs
  • 12 March - Sixth joint economic committee meeting (COMEFA) held in Algiers, attended by Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs
  • 21 January - Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs

2019

  • 23-24 June: attendance of Mr Sabri Boukadoum, Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, at the Summit of the Two Shores
  • 11 June: Mr Raouf Bernaoui, Algerian Minister of Youth and Sports
  • 30 January: Ms Nicole Belloubet, French Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice

2018

  • 8 December: Mr Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Minister of State attached to the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs
  • 18 November: Mr Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of the Economy and Finance
  • 29 October: Fifth joint economic committee (COMEFA) meeting in Paris, attended by Mr Abdelkader Messahel, Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Mr Youcef Yousfi, Algerian Minister of Industry and Mines
  • 1 October: Mr Noureddine Ayadi, Secretary General of the Presidency of Algeria
  • 29 May: Mr Ahmed Ouyahia, Algerian Prime Minister
  • 26-30 April: Mr Abdelwahid Temmar, Algerian Minister of Housing, Urban Planning and Cities, Mr Mourad Zemali, Algerian Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security
  • 25-26 April: Mr Abdelkader Messahel, Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 9-10 April: Mr Abdelkader Messahel, Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 14-15 March: Mr Gérard Collomb, Ministre d’État, French Minister of the Interior

2017

  • 7 December: Fourth High-Level Intergovernmental Committee (CIHN) meeting in Paris, attended by Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia along with six Ministers and a Minister of State
  • 6 December: Mr Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, accompanied by Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs and Mr Gérald Darmanin, French Minister for Government Action and Public Accounts
  • 12 November: Fourth joint economic committee meeting (COMEFA) in Algiers, attended by Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs and Mr Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of the Economy and Finance
  • 25 September: Mr Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, Secretary-General of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs
  • 12-13 June: Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs
  • 5-6 April: Mr Bernard Cazeneuve, French Prime Minister
  • 7 March: Mr Bruno Le Roux, French Minister of the Interior
  • 2-3 February: Mr Laurent Fabius, President of the French Constitutional Council
  • 25-26 January: Mr Tahar Hadjar, Algerian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research
  • 25 January: Mr Hamid Grine, Algerian Minister for Communication
  • 24 January: Mr Hadji Baba Ammi, Algerian Minister of Finance (5+5 Finances)
  • 18 January: Mr Abdelkader Messahel, Algerian Minister of Maghreb Affairs, the African Union and the Arab League

Economic relations

Algeria is our second-largest partner in Africa, with trade reaching €8 billion in 2021. French exports to Algeria have decreased (€3.7 billion in 2021), whereas French imports of Algerian goods (91% of which are hydrocarbons) have risen.
In 2020, France was Algeria’s second-largest supplier (10.6% of imports, after China) and its second-largest customer (13.3% of Algerian exports, behind Italy).
France is the leading investor outside of the oil and gas sector. Our businesses employ almost 40,000 people directly (100,000 if indirect jobs are included), for around 500 companies present in the country (some 30 CAC 40 companies are active or present on the Algerian market). The main sectors for jobs and activity are financial services (through the presence of Société Générale and BNP Paribas), and transport (with companies including Air France). In the maritime field, CMA CGM, with its staff of 400 people, is a leader on the Algerian market. France’s economic presence is also considerable in Algeria in the sectors of hospitality and catering (Accor, Sodexo and Newrest), automobile vehicles (Renault and Renault Trucks), the environment (Suez Environnement), electricity (Schneider Electric), agrifood (Avril, Agromed and Axéréal) and health (Sanofi, Ipsen).

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Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation

Until 2017, our cultural, scientific and technical cooperation was governed by a partnership framework document (DCP), setting out the major objectives of our partnership with Algeria. While it expired in 2017, cooperation activities continue in each of those areas.
Our academic and scientific cooperation seeks to support the LMD (bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate) reform, the training of researchers and lecturers, the creation of excellence hubs (École Supérieure Algérienne des Affaires business school; Higher School of Technology, preparatory courses, a network of Higher Technology Teaching Institutes), and the improvement of the education and vocational training system. The reform of the PROFAS grants programme was finalized in 2014, on the basis of equal financing by each party (€1.2 million each year, 650 beneficiaries) and seven ISTA technology institutes have opened since September that year, based on the French University Institute of Technology (IUT) model.
Our cultural cooperation draws on a French cultural network that has been redeployed since 2000 (five active Instituts Français in Algiers, Annaba, Oran, Constantine and Tlemcen). The renovated Institut Français in Annaba was inaugurated on 18 April 2018. The international Alexandre Dumas secondary school in Algiers reopened in 2002 and teaches more than 2,000 pupils, while another, smaller school in Hydra has 500 pupils. At the CIHN on 10 April 2016, agreement was reached for two annexes of the Alexandre Dumas school to open: one in Oran, which opened in 2017, and one in Annaba, which opened in 2018.

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Other cooperation

Institutional cooperation aims to support areas including the modernization of justice, administration, transport, regional development and civil protection. Cooperation programmes exist in agriculture, transport, public works and land use planning. Lastly, our activities seek to encourage decentralized cooperation and to support civil society.

Cooperation between France and Algeria stands out for the extreme diversity of fields and the great many players involved (administrations, local government bodies, associations, NGOs, etc.), which reflect the vitality of a relationship rooted in history and human and family ties. The full extent of this cooperation can be read about on the website of the French Embassy in Algiers: http://www.ambafrance-dz.org/ambassade/

Updated: August 2022

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