Country Report: Algeria

Pressing Ahead

Given Algeria’s strong dependency on hydrocarbon export receipts, it was perhaps inevitable that the 2014 global oil price collapse-which halved the nation’s foreign currency reserves, provoked a yawning budget deficit of more than 15 percent of GDP and crimped the government’s ability to sustain costly subsidies-would ultimately impact the country’s budding life sciences sector as well.

Indeed, over the past five years, Algeria’s life sciences space has been buffeted by a whirlwind of changes, including the nomination of a new technocratic-minded health minister in the form of ENT practitioner, Mokhtar Hasbellaoui, the enactment of a historic and transformative “sanitary law,” the sudden and unexpected imposition of sweeping pharma and medical device import restrictions, and much more.

Nevertheless, for all the recent upheaval, the Algerian marketplace remains a high priority for MNCs investing in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). “Algeria stands out as the jewel in the crown so to speak, not only because it is one of the most manifestly stable countries in an increasingly volatile region, but also due to the favorable population dynamics, sheer market size, and the underlying reality that consumer demand continues to blossom,” says Essam Farouk, president of El Kendi.

To view the full article on Algeria's pharma and healthcare markets, produced by Focus Reports and featured in Pharm Exec's November 2018 issue, click 

 (cycle down to page 34).

To preview and purchase other in-depth global Phama Reports, highlighting several countries and emerging markets, please visit www.industrymatter.com/reports