Algeria Targets $30 Billion in Non-Hydrocarbon Exports as President Tebboune Accelerates Drive Toward a Diversified Economy
President Tebboune’s long-term economic strategy seeks to transform Algeria from a hydrocarbon-dependent exporter into a diversified industrial and export-driven economy, combining manufacturing expansion, energy value addition, logistics modernization, and large-scale water security investments.
By Dr. Hana Saada
ALGIERS — Algeria is setting one of the most ambitious economic diversification targets in its modern history, with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune steering a national strategy aimed at raising annual non-hydrocarbon exports to approximately $30 billion by 2029–2030, a milestone intended to fundamentally reduce the country’s dependence on oil and gas revenues while reshaping the structure of the national economy.
The objective represents the centerpiece of a broader transformation built on expanding industrial production, strengthening domestic manufacturing, reducing import dependency, developing higher value-added energy exports, and ensuring long-term water security through one of the world’s largest seawater desalination programmes.
Speaking before members of the Algerian Economic Renewal Council (CREA), President Tebboune announced that Algerian companies have collectively committed to reaching nearly $30 billion in annual non-hydrocarbon exports, a level that would substantially alter Algeria’s external trade structure by increasing the contribution of manufacturing, agriculture, mining, services and industrial processing to foreign currency earnings.
From a Hydrocarbon Economy Toward a Manufacturing Powerhouse
The target marks a dramatic acceleration from recent export performance.
Only a few years ago, Algeria’s non-hydrocarbon exports remained below $2 billion annually. Government reforms aimed at stimulating industrial production and export diversification have since pushed that figure to approximately $7 billion, while official data indicate that non-hydrocarbon exports expanded by 16 percent during the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period last year.
The latest target therefore represents not simply an increase in export volumes, but the transition toward an economy capable of sustaining regular industrial exports across multiple sectors.
President Tebboune has repeatedly argued that Algeria’s future economic resilience depends upon replacing an import-based model with a production-based economy capable of competing internationally.
That strategy has already enabled several Algerian manufacturers to move beyond serving domestic demand toward exporting products across Africa, Europe and Arab markets.
Industrial Expansion Driving Export Growth
Authorities expect future export growth to be driven by an increasingly diversified industrial base.
Products now entering international markets include:
- household appliances;
- electrical equipment;
- industrial pumps;
- electrical cables;
- steel products;
- construction materials;
- food products;
- petrochemical derivatives;
- chemical products.
The government’s industrial policy simultaneously seeks to replace imported manufactured goods with locally produced alternatives while directing surplus production toward export markets.
Officials argue that this dual strategy simultaneously reduces pressure on Algeria’s foreign currency reserves while generating new hard-currency revenues.
Recent export operations illustrate the ongoing expansion.
In June 2026, Mostaganem Port handled more than 13,000 tonnes of non-hydrocarbon exports in a single shipment, while manufacturers based in Sétif, Bordj Bou Arréridj, Biskra and Jijel have launched new export operations serving multiple international destinations.
Infrastructure Becomes Central to Export Strategy
Government officials acknowledge that reaching the $30 billion target will require far more than increased industrial production.
The strategy depends heavily upon strengthening:
- maritime logistics;
- commercial ports;
- cold-chain infrastructure;
- storage capacity;
- road and rail freight corridors;
- customs efficiency;
- export financing mechanisms.
Minister of Foreign Trade and Export Promotion Kamel Rezig recently described logistics infrastructure as one of the principal pillars underpinning Algeria’s export ambitions.
State support mechanisms also continue to expand.
Through Algeria’s Export Promotion Fund, exporters receive assistance covering part of international transport costs while benefiting from support for participation in international trade fairs, helping domestic firms penetrate more distant overseas markets.
Moving Up the Energy Value Chain
Economic diversification also extends into Algeria’s flagship hydrocarbon sector.
Rather than relying primarily on crude oil exports, authorities increasingly seek to maximise value-added production through expanded refining and downstream petrochemical industries.
Algeria has already eliminated fuel imports after achieving self-sufficiency, while President Tebboune confirmed that the country has begun exporting gasoline and kerosene.
Further expansion is expected once several strategic projects become operational.
Among the most significant is the Hassi Messaoud refinery, designed with an annual processing capacity of five million tonnes, which will substantially increase domestic production of gasoline, diesel and refined petroleum products while creating additional export capacity.
Meanwhile, Sonatrach continues expanding refining capabilities at Arzew, including catalytic reforming units expected to increase gasoline production from 450,000 tonnes to 1.2 million tonnes annually.
The company is also developing domestic production of MTBE (Methyl Tertiary-Butyl Ether), an essential gasoline additive currently imported, allowing Algeria both to eliminate imports and eventually export surplus production.
Sonatrach’s 2026–2030 medium-term strategy places strong emphasis on:
- refining;
- petrochemicals;
- downstream industrial transformation;
- higher-value energy exports.
Officials believe exporting refined products—including gasoline, kerosene, naphtha and petrochemical derivatives—will generate significantly higher returns than crude oil sales while reducing exposure to fluctuations in global crude prices.
Water Security as an Economic Priority
Industrial expansion is being accompanied by an equally ambitious programme to secure Algeria’s long-term water supplies.
Facing declining rainfall and increasing domestic and industrial demand, Algeria plans to construct six new large-scale seawater desalination plants, each capable of producing 300,000 cubic metres per day.
The new facilities are planned for:
- Skikda;
- Jijel;
- Tizi Ouzou;
- Chlef;
- Mostaganem;
- Tlemcen.
Water distribution networks will subsequently connect production to 18 inland provinces.
These projects follow completion of five major desalination plants commissioned in:
- El Tarf;
- Béjaïa;
- Boumerdès;
- Tipasa;
- Oran.
With their commissioning, Algeria’s national desalination capacity increased from 2.2 million to 3.7 million cubic metres daily, raising desalinated water’s contribution to approximately 42 percent of national drinking water demand.
Authorities now intend to raise that share to 62 percent by 2029, significantly reducing dependence on dams and groundwater resources while strengthening water security for households, agriculture and industrial investment.
President Tebboune has stated that the programme will position Algeria among the world’s leading countries in seawater desalination.
A Structural Economic Transformation
Taken together, Algeria’s current economic strategy rests upon four interconnected pillars:
- expanding domestic industrial production;
- reducing import dependence;
- increasing non-hydrocarbon exports;
- securing strategic resources required for sustainable growth.
The success of the $30 billion export target will depend not only on manufacturing capacity but equally on efficient logistics, internationally competitive products, financial support mechanisms and compliance with global quality standards.
Expanded refining capacity is expected to strengthen higher-value energy exports, while desalination infrastructure provides the water security necessary for sustained industrialisation.
President Tebboune has repeatedly described the ongoing reforms as a decisive break with what he characterises as an “import-for-import’s-sake” economic model.
He argues that within five years Algeria will possess a markedly different economic landscape, driven by expanded industrial production, technological development, innovation, start-ups and internationally competitive exports.
For Algeria, achieving $30 billion in annual non-hydrocarbon exports by the end of the decade would represent far more than an export target. It would constitute one of the country’s most significant tests of structural economic transformation—demonstrating whether years of industrial investment, infrastructure development, energy modernisation and economic reform can ultimately generate sustainable growth, higher-value production, durable employment and a more resilient post-hydrocarbon economy.
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