THE
NORTH AFRICA JOURNAL
156th. Issue
Released September 6, 2004
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Algeria
Introduces Important Amendments to Social Laws, Pushes for More
Gender Equality
This is not a good time for the
conservative-religious movement in Algeria. Under pressure from
social activists, the government has recently endorsed major changes
in the country's social laws, which still need to pass a conservative
assembly before implementation. On August 18, the Algerian
government endorsed a draft text amending the so-called Family Code.
The Family Code is a set of laws regulating issues of civil rights,
gender equality, marriage, divorce, inheritance and other highly
controversial social subjects. To recall, the Family Code law 84-11
was promulgated on June 9, 1984 by the national assembly under the
leadership of Rabat Bitat. But despite becoming law, many items
were never implemented given the contradictions that existed in
the interpretation of the civil code and religious texts. On the
other hand, the June 1984 law met tremendous resistance from the
liberal branches, mostly from the feminist movement and the pro-women's
right militants, who qualified it as a "treason" against
the true aspirations of the independence.
FOREIGN INVESTMENT:
Libya Needs Major Reforms to Attract Foreign Investors Outside of the Petroleum Sector
An economic embargo, coupled with a heavily centralized decision making system meant that Libya has been for a long time closed to foreign investment. A socialist-style economy prevented foreign capital from landing on the Libyan shores, but the oil and gas sector has been the single exception to this rule, albeit not fully developed. But in 2003, two major events led to important changes in this state of affairs. The first was Muamar Khadafi's June 30th appointment of the reformist figure Choukri Ghanem to the prime minister position. His principal mandate was to progressively phase out the public sector but quickly attract foreign investment. Then in September of that year, the United Nations decided to lift the sanctions imposed on Libya.
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ECONOMY:
Trade and Investment in Tunisia and Morocco: Mid-Year Assessment
The Tunisian economy appears to be making progress. The various indicators released by the government relative to the first half of 2004, indicate that economic growth is underway, including a strengthening of industrial activity judging by the 5.1% rise in power consumption in the commercial sector, coupled with the 18.8% increase in raw material and semi-finished product imports. In Morocco, the situation is a bit different as the foreign trade performance is still lagging. The trade deficit continues to widen and as of the end of July it expanded by 31.7% year on year, according to the foreign exchange office. Crude oil was the primary factor that led to this poor performance, and although the data for the month of August is not yet available, analysts already predict another tough month. With the price of crude oil reaching the $49 mark in July, the prices of refined products and crude oil derivates also increased as a result, such as a 3.5% for gasoil and 2.9% for auto gasoline at the retail level.
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IMMIGRATION:
Shifting Responsibility on Managing Illegal Immigration, Libya to Open Temporary Host Centers
The normalization of the relations between Libya and Europe is well underway and the recent visit to Tripoli of the Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was part of this normalization effort. But this normalization process underscored by the current diplomatic dance between Tripoli and Rome is suspicious and is based on immigration control on the Italian side and later selling military hardware to oil-rich Libya. After having permitted the use of Libyan airports to fly from Italy some 2,500 extradited Egyptian, Ghanaian and Nigerian immigrants to their countries of origin, where they suffered from persecution and misery, Libya has now accepted to act as the filter of immigrants seeking to enter Italy, with the establishment of three processing centers to be built by Italian taxpayers. Libya will also contribute to the patrolling of its Mediterranean coastline with the technical, financial and educational support from the Italian government.
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LABOR UNIONS:
Algerian Labor Union Chief Sidi-Said Increasingly Isolated
September is not just the end of the vacation season and back to school. It has also been traditionally a period of intense labor union activity in Algeria and this year is no exception. Pressure on the biggest, state-endorsed Union Generale des Travailleurs Algeriens (UGTA) is mounting. This is because there has been a vacuum left by the real absence of a political opposition and the existence of weak opposition parties that cannot carry with them a pro-worker agenda. In absence of efficient political parties that can efficiently face the administration of Bouteflika and his prime minister Ouyahia, the UGTA is naturally pulled into the field its leader has sought to avoid.
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STOCK EXCHANGE:
Two Small Introductions in the Tunis Stock Exchange this Fall
Filter manufacturer Générale Industrielle de Filtration (GIF Filter) and battery maker Assad are preparing to enter the Tunis Stock Exchange this fall. Sources say that brokerage firms MAC SA and Arab Financial Consulting were were hired to lead these operations, involving some 30% of each of the companies capital. The news is important in that it will give create some momentum in a bourse that has been lethargic for some time.
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HOUSING AND POPULATION:
Census Begins in Morocco
Morocco's housing and population survey started this week. This is the fifth such census since the country gained its independence. Meeting on August 30 and 31 to strategize and plan, census workers have been given 35,150 districts to share amongst them. Meanwhile, census authorities have expanded their marketing and communications campaign aimed at facilitating the counting and survey process. That included the use of mosques and Friday preaching to inform the wider population on the importance of this event.
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