(Ecofin Agency) - In Algeria, close to 50% of local newspapers have closed in the past three years. This was revealed by Jamal Kaouan, minister of information, during a show aired recently. 

According to the official, “26 daily newspapers and 34 weekly newspapers ceased to be published since the beginning of the financial crisis in Algeria, in 2014”. He highlighted that before the crisis, more than 140 newspapers were active in the country.

Let’s recall that Algeria currently records a major economic crisis driven by the drop in prices of oil from which it gets 97% of its foreign exchange revenues and 60% of its budget resources.   

To reverse this trend, the Algerian State plans to revive its Press Support Fund in 2018. Meanwhile, press professionals are wondering how existing newspapers will survive until then.

Servan Ahougnon