Algeria: Unemployed demonstrate in Arzew.

The demonstrators marched to the Sonatrach offices in Arzew sealing off  the roads around it. They blame the National employment office, ANEM at Arzew  over its failure to hire local labour and  they accuse it of favouritism according to El Watan newspaper and other media. Arzew is a city which depends on the hydrocarbon industry.

On  Sunday afternoon , the unemployed Arzew have invested the local government  headquarters located in daïra Frantz Fanon and blocked access. Initially, they demanded that the head of  the local government meet with them but now they are demanding the presence of Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal to discuss their situation.


The Prime Minister has issued a directive to provide a road plan for dealing with unemployment in the South with a number of measures to tackle the situation according to APS. The Prime Minister is visiting a number of locations and taking action to change the business climate in Algeria which is plagued by a heavy handed bureaucracy which Christine Lagarde Managing Director of the IMF criticised on her recent visit to Algiers calling for a more inclusive society. Abdelmajid Sidi Said President of the Union of Algerian Workers (UGTA) has called for dialogue over the unemployment issue


The problem of unemployment in Algeria has been serious for many years. The hydrocarbons sector is not able to accommodate the demand for employment and Algeria has been unable to diversify its economy to provide more jobs. Protests are common and they are becoming more intense. The Prime Minister is actively pursuing a policy of change in the economy and the business environment and is seen to be responsive by the employers association but will he be able to effect change in Algeria's  heavily bureaucratic system in time to satisfy the increasing demands of the unemployed?