Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune made an offer to contribute to BRICS Bank at an amount of $1.5 billion, in return for accepting his country’s membership in the group, but in conjunction with Chinese investment projects in Algeria worth $36 billion
This comes as observers say that $1.5 billion is a symbolic move to address the BRICS member states, but the Algerian president has bought BRICS membership by increasing major Chinese investments in his country, which has been surrounded by local corruption for several years, and prompted trials during which a number of former senior officials of the Algerian regime were convicted.
During his visit to Beijing, President Tebboune sought to reschedule the Chinese companies involved in implementing projects in Algeria, and the list was discussed with the Chinese ambassador to Algeria, Li Jian, amid Algerian efforts to neutralize these companies from the local corruption system, despite the difficulty of the task.
Tebboune disclosed: “We officially applied to join the BRICS group, we sent a letter asking to be shareholder members of the bank… Algeria’s first contribution to the bank will be $1.5 billion.”
The BRICS Bank, formerly referred to as the New Development Bank, is run by BRICS countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, with its headquarters in Shanghai, China.
The bank was established in 2014 with an initial contribution from member states estimated at $100 billion. As of March, it has been chaired by former President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff, who will hold the position until 2025.
President Tebboune expressed that his country is looking forward to joining the BRICS group with the aim of diversifying its economy, and he stated on his recent visit to Russia that his country wants to urgently determine its accession.
The disclosure of the financial contribution, which Algeria is preparing to deposit in the BRICS Bank if its request is accepted, is the first practical step to joining the group.
The bank allows countries outside the founding members to contribute to its capital.
So far, Algeria has won the support of Russia and China in its request for its accession to the group, which will hold its next summit in South Africa in August.
About 19 percent of Algerians live in a state of sustainable poverty, especially in the suburbs of cities and remote areas, which prompted the current government to move in this direction, hoping that it will succeed in achieving the development required for decades.
More than eight million Algerians out of a total population estimated at about 43 million in the country live in difficult living conditions, in poor areas in the countryside and on the outskirts of major cities, where many of the basic necessities of life such as housing, water, electricity and schools are lacking.The Algerian government is seeking to draw up an urgent rehabilitation plan of nearly two billion US dollars directed at these regions to improve living conditions there, provide the necessary basics, and solve schooling problems.
On February 15, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune surprised the country’s state governors and government cadres in an expanded meeting, by broadcasting a documentary film about the conditions of Algerians living in marginal areas, and still, six decades after independence, without water, which forces them to transport it on animals from long distances, while they lack electricity and live in houses made of mud and tin.
As for their children, they are forced to walk distances of more than five kilometers to reach their schools.Tebboune described these conditions as similar to the conditions of Algerians during French colonialism.
It is noteworthy that the scenes were not a new discovery for the Algerians, but the way they were presented as a tragic reality and its occasion represented a turning point, a real revelation to the government, and a condemnation of previous years of rule regarding poor local development policies.
Fetboune stressed that these scenes do not honor Algeria at all.With every incursion into Algeria, the immersion in the map of poverty and marginalization increases further, and manifestations of marginalization, the absence of development, and the basics of life emerge.And if villages in the north and center suffer from marginalization despite their proximity to cities and municipalities, the problem appears to be more tragic in the desert regions, where population centers struggle with the harshness of nature in addition to life problems.And that cruelty is caused by sand, storms, and high heat.
Added to this is the remoteness from the cities, which impedes children’s education.The percentage of non-schooling or dropping out of school has reached record levels in some population centers, and the Remada region in southern Algeria is an example of this situation, with zero success in the baccalaureate exams.All this marginalization has resulted in many problems related to diseases, undernutrition, unemployment and others.
