Thanks to major projects decided by President Tebboune, Algeria is making steady progress towards water security

ALGIERS – Amid regional and global water scarcity driven by climate change, Algeria is making steady progress toward ensuring its water security, thanks to major projects initiated by the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, which rely on the exploitation of unconventional water resources, such as seawater desalination and groundwater, in addition to the interconnection of dams and large-scale water transfers.

Driven by the President of the Republic’s forward-looking vision and meticulous execution on the ground, Algeria has made significant strides in ensuring a reliable supply of drinking water.

Consequently, access to drinking water networks has climbed to 98% nationwide, placing Algeria among the leading countries in this area.

Seawater desalination projects are a key pillar of the nation’s water strategy. The initial phase wrapped up with five large-scale plants built by Algerian expertise in El Tarf (Koudiet Draouche), Boumerdes (Cap Djinet), Tipaza (Fouka), Oran (Cap Blanc), and Bejaïa (Tighremt-Toudja), each producing 300,000 cubic meters daily, with a total investment nearing USD2.4 billion.

The second phase, set to launch early next year, includes building six additional major plants in the provinces of Skikda, Jijel, Tizi Ouzou, Chlef, Mostaganem, and Tlemcen. Studies are currently underway to eventually supply drinking water from these facilities to 18 provinces. 

The President of the Republic recently inaugurated four seawater desalination plants in El Tarf, Boumerdes, Tipaza, and Oran, with the Bejaïa plant scheduled for inauguration soon.

The President of the Republic affirmed that “completing seawater desalination plants in record time has established the foundations of an Algerian school for implementing major projects.”

Once these five (5) facilities are commissioned, the country will have a total of 19 desalination plants, increasing national production capacity from 2.2 million m³ (approximately 20% of national drinking water demand) to 3.7 million m³ of water per day, representing 42% of demand.

Thanks to the new infrastructures that will be built in the coming years, the share of desalination in citizens' drinking water supply will rise to more than 60%.

The National Council for Human Rights (CNDH) said that the projects recently inaugurated by the President of the Republic represent “significant strides by Algeria toward eliminating water stress, allowing the country to proudly advance steadily toward the threshold of developed nations.”

Thanks to these achievements, Algeria now ranks first in Africa and second in the Arab world in desalinated water production capacity.

Several regions of the country are supplied with drinking water thanks to the interconnection of dams, as part of water solidarity between areas with more and less water resources, in addition to major South-South and South-North hydraulic transfers.

During the last five-year period, significant financial resources exceeding DZD900 billion had been allocated to implement several projects aimed at strengthening hydraulic infrastructure.

To address the challenges of water security at both regional and international levels, the province of Bechar (southwest Algeria) will host, from 12 to 14 April, a significant international conference on water resources and environmental changes.