Wars, Coups and Protests Don’t Stop Gas Flowing to Europe
- Demonstrators have urged Algeria’s president to step aside
- Algeria’s energy industry thrived during decade-long civil war
Protesters clash with security forces in Algiers on March 1.
Photographer: Ryad Kramdi/AFP via Getty Images
Arab Spring-style protests have rocked Europe’s third-biggest natural gas supplier. Thousands of young Algerians have taken to the streets, fed up with an octogenarian president who’s been in power for 20 years and a weak economy that doesn’t generate enough jobs. While the rare public display of dissatisfaction has sparked a political crisis in the authoritarian state, the country’s energy exports haven’t been disrupted.
Protesters say their 82-year-old President Abdelaziz Bouteflika should not seek a fifth term in the April elections. Bouteflika, who had a stroke in 2013 and is rarely seen in public, quelled smaller protests when he ran in 2014, using a mixture of water cannons and enhancements to subsidies and salaries. Handouts would be more painful this time for Africa’s biggest oil and gas producer because its economy is still struggling to cope with four years of lower crude prices. Inflation is rising and the country’s reserves are projected to plummet to $67 billion this year from $177 billion in 2014, according to the International Monetary Fund.