Algeria Escalates Economic Tensions with Morocco, Cutting Trade and Energy Ties

Closure of Algerian airspace to Morocco, termination of contracts with Moroccan companies, non-renewal of the contract on the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline crossing Morocco and connecting Algeria to Spain, closure of its borders with its western neighbor... Over the years, Algiers has ended up triggering the economic war with Rabat.

Algeria is Morocco’s second African partner after Egypt. Trade between the two countries is focused on imports and exports. Over the decade 2010-2019, trade between the two countries showed an average annual decline of 2.6%, from 8.2 billion dirhams in 2010 to 6.5 billion dirhams in 2019. In 2020, total trade amounted to 5.3 billion dirhams, according to data from the Moroccan Foreign Exchange Office.

Figures showing that trade between Algeria and Morocco has not developed for years. Will the eastern neighbor win this economic war against Rabat, which knows how to activate development levers, particularly tourism, to boost its diversified economy? The Algerian economy, on the other hand, remains dependent on oil rent, its Achilles’ heel.