Algeria moves forward on key reforms.

A Reuters April 16, 2006 report, datelined Algiers, cited information from Banque d'Algerie-the central bank of Algeria-saying that the economy grew 5.1 percent in 2005. The figures were made public on April 14, 2006.

The report said, too, that growth for the past four years exceeded an average 5.0 percent.

Algeria, of course, is an oil producing country. In regard to Algeria's solid growth numbers, the Banque d'Algerie confirmed that "the growth engine was the hydrocarbons sector."

Oil has delivered a measure of economic stability to Algeria's consumers, which institutions, including the government, have been slow to provide. It is worth noting that the current president has been able to bring to an end what amounted to a long civil war. The civil war began in the early 1990s, and followed a decade plus long war of independence from France, which ended in 1962.

The rising price of oil, and Algeria's competitive position in hydrocarbons worldwide put the government in a position to be able to act to repair and enlarge the country's crumbling infrastructure, and provide not only a safety net for its citizens, but also developmental programs that would enhance the country's ability to attract foreign investment. This, in turn, could lead to growth in Algeria's industrial sector, reducing the country's dependence on oil and its vulnerability to oil price shocks.

According to an October 19, 2005 announcement by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the government understands the opportunity. "The additional hydrocarbon resources generated by the hike in oil prices are increasing the authorities' leeway for modernizing the infrastructure, strengthening the available human and institutional capital, and implementing the priority reforms, with a view to supporting private sector development and the creation of productive jobs."

According to the Oxford Business Group, a London-based consultancy, Algeria is looking toward affiliation with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the European Union (EU) in 2006. Both moves will speed reform in the country.

REFORMS CAN CREATE JOBS AND GROW ALGERIA'S MIDDLE CLASS

The population growth rate for Algeria is below the regional average, due in part to a birth rate of 20 per thousand inhabitants, which is lower than the average of 26 per thousand for North Africa. Job creation has not kept up with growth of the labor force in recent years, and it is unlikely that the situation will improve much further in 2006. Unemployment is running about 15.3 percent, and this continues to undermine consumer confidence.

Algeria's population reached 33-million people mid-2005, which amounted to 17 percent of North Africa's 194-million inhabitants. According to data released by the Population Reference Bureau (PRB), Algeria's population will reach 41-million by 2025. Also, according to that source, Algeria is going to have a population of 44-million people in 2050.

The PRB revealed that a moderate 49 percent of Algeria's population lived in urban areas during 2005, and that the country's population density is a low 36 people per square mile. Algeria is sonly slightly smaller than all of Central America. But Central America is home to nearly 4.5 times as many people

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The CIA's World Factbook, indicates that 28 percent of Algeria's population was birth to 14 years old in 2005, while 67 percent was 15 to 64 years old, and 5 percent of the populace was 65 years of age and over.

CIA statistics revealed that the country's population growth rate would be 1.22 percent in 2006. According to the United Nations Population Division, in the year 2050, 20 percent of Algeria's population will be birth to 14 years old, while 58 percent will be aged 15 to 59, and 22 percent of the populace will be 60 years of age and over.

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