Algeria Opens Its Doors to Africa: AAPI Director General Omar Rekkache Calls for Pan-African Investment Integration and Economic Sovereignty

✍️ BY: Dr. Hana Saada

At the Africa Investment Forum, the head of Algeria’s Investment Promotion Agency urges the continent to overcome structural barriers, boost intra-African trade, and capitalize on Algeria’s reforms and geostrategic advantages to shape a prosperous African future.

Algiers, Algeria | May 10th, 2025 —  In an intervention during the Africa Investment Forum, Omar Rekkache, Director General of the Algerian Investment Promotion Agency (AAPI), outlined Algeria’s strategic direction in promoting investment, deepening African economic integration, and enhancing the continent’s collective sovereignty over capital flows and trade mechanisms. The event, organized by the Arab-African Center for Investment and Development, served as a platform to mobilize economic actors across the continent around urgent reforms and regional cooperation.

Rekkache positioned the forum as a manifestation of “a shared continental consciousness” to unify efforts for reinforcing Africa-to-Africa economic partnerships, particularly in a world witnessing profound disruptions in global value chains and intensifying competition for foreign direct investment. He stressed that the continent can no longer afford fragmented approaches: “The time for isolated national trajectories has passed—Africa must consolidate its economic weight through strategic integration.”

He emphasized that Algeria, under President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s leadership, has made investment climate reform a top national priority. This has resulted in a comprehensive overhaul of the investment framework, enshrining freedom of enterprise and delivering tangible legal and institutional guarantees to both domestic and foreign investors. A new legal regime has been enacted, reinforcing transparency, expediting bureaucratic procedures, and simplifying administrative pathways for investors.

Alongside legislative change, Algeria has introduced targeted incentive systems that steer capital toward productive, high value-added sectors—particularly industry, agribusiness, renewable energy, and the circular economy. These mechanisms are anchored in a development model premised on sustainable growth, diversification, and industrial competitiveness.

Algeria’s appeal as an investment destination is now reinforced by structural assets that position the country as a strategic economic hub. Among these:

– Its geographic centrality bridging sub-Saharan Africa with Europe and the Mediterranean basin,
– An expanding logistics and maritime infrastructure, including port development,
– Vast reserves of natural resources spanning hydrocarbons, minerals, and water,
– A growing domestic market of over 46 million people, with preferential access to regional and global trade blocs,
– And a young, qualified human capital base, increasingly recognized as a strategic comparative advantage.

Since the rollout of the new investment law, AAPI has recorded 253 investment projects with foreign involvement. These include 98 wholly foreign-owned initiatives and 155 joint ventures between international investors and Algerian counterparts. The sectors covered extend across manufacturing, agri-industries, clean energy, and transformation sectors—indicating diversification momentum.

AAPI has also witnessed increased engagement with foreign delegations, which are evaluating Algeria as a platform for broader regional deployment. Several discussions have already led to signed deals with public and private enterprises. Rekkache confirmed that a number of major, structurally significant projects will be officially unveiled in the near term following finalization of legal procedures.

Nevertheless, Rekkache issued a stark warning on the current state of intra-African trade and investment. Despite Africa’s size and resources, intra-continental trade remains capped at 15% of overall African trade volume, while intra-African foreign direct investment accounts for merely 12% of the total—compared to over 70% of FDI still arriving from outside the continent.

“This asymmetry is unsustainable,” he said, “and it underlines the necessity for deep structural and policy shifts.” These include the urgent development of transport and logistics infrastructure, the elimination of customs and non-tariff barriers impeding regional circulation of goods, and the strengthening of local industrial ecosystems capable of meeting domestic demand and reducing external dependency.

Rekkache reaffirmed that Africa’s resilience and growth potential remain intact—but require deliberate and coordinated action. “Economic integration is not a strategic luxury—it is a necessity. Only through integration can we construct resilient value chains, retain capital within the continent, and shape a sovereign economic future.”

He made it clear that Algeria is prepared to assume a leading role in this continental trajectory. “Thanks to its positioning, capabilities, and clear political vision, Algeria is ready to act as a continental bridge—a strategic node for investment, trade, and regional economic convergence.”

In his closing remarks, he urged all economic actors—whether investors, exporters, or importers—to view Algeria as a committed and open partner: “Algeria is your gateway to sustainable and successful investment. The infrastructure is here. The vision is here. And the will is here.”

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