Madar (Algiers) - Algeria's Minister of Foreign Trade and Export Promotion, Kamel Rezig, said on Thursday, November 5, 2026, that the commercial free zone in Tindouf province will be handed over before the end of the year, helping to develop trade with West African countries, notably Algerian exports, Algerian Radio reported.
Speaking at a plenary session of oral questions in the Council of the Nation, chaired by Azouz Nasri, the minister said the 200-hectare "strategic project", whose foundation stone was laid in 2024 by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and his Mauritanian counterpart Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, is part of the state's plan to promote trade with Mauritania and West Africa.
Rezig said works on the zone, located near the border post, have been fully completed. It includes six large warehouses, large exhibitor areas, a goods inspection centre, living quarters, an administrative building housing customs, banking and insurance services, as well as service and security facilities and a health centre.
He said a draft executive decree creating a public body to manage free zones is currently with the Government General Secretariat, and that ministries are coordinating to complete the final handover and bring the facility into actual operation.
The minister also said Algeria's non-hydrocarbon exports rose by about USD 972 million in 2025 compared with 2024, reaching USD 5.16 billion, and that the special export promotion fund received 3,900 applications from exporters in 2025.
No start date for operations and no cost were given.
