Their president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, 82, has rarely been seen in public since a 2013 stroke, and is currently in Geneva for medical reasons. • “I’ve heard the heartfelt cry of the protesters”, he said, via a letter read out by a journalist on television. • Though he will contest the Presidential elections in April, massive public protests forced him to promise he would stand down thereafter. In Algeria, a wider continental malaise is writ large: old leaders, a young and angry youth population, plenty of natural resources but an out-of-touch administration. • Algeria has burnt through over $100bn of foreign exchange reserves since the oil price crashed in 2014.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 04, 2019 18:11 UTC