Momentum
The last three years, a lot of events have been hosted and articles published in relation to startups and fintech in Algeria.
The story of startups in Algeria is older, events have been hosted more than 10 years ago in relation to startups and previous laws and decrees referred to Startups (Executive decree ° 17-272 of 16 Moharram 1439 ( 7 October 2017), Executive decree ° 13-81 of 18 Rabie El Aouel 1434 (30 January 2013), Law n° 17-02 of 11 Rabie Ethani 1438 (10 janvier 2017).
From the recent law on financial services (Loi 23-09 du 21 Juin 2023) to conferences on Fintech and financial services, it seems that enabling new financial actors such as fintech would be soon possible.
The situation is improving but still Algeria is lagging far behind Morocco and Tunisia. Both countries are themselves far behind the top countries in Africa which are Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa. In a study published in August 2022, McKinsey identified the 11 key African Markets (Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Morocco, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Senegal) representing 70% of Africa’s GDP and
50% of population
Fintech growth across Africa’s 54 countries
*Fintech in Africa: The end of the beginning, August 2022, McKinsey
Fintech in Africa: The dwarf and the Giant
Africa will see the highest growth in FinTech revenues between 2021-2030. Still, Africa Fintech revenues will be half of south american Fintech revenues and the third of the European one.
Banking sector in Algeria
Algeria counts 6 state-run banks on the 19 banks operating in Algeria.
Foreign presence
French Banks are very active in Algeria and one of them has a retail activity in Algeria while the bank is not active in this line of business elsewhere.
Financial Institutions
Other financial institutions are also active in Algeria offering leasing solutions for example
Algérie Poste
Algérie Poste has a specific status, not officially a Bank (Algérie Poste has no banking license), Algérie Poste is regulated by the Ministry of Telecommunications
Alongisde the central bank, two public entities are playing a key role in Algeria, respectively the GIE monétique and SATIM.
The Algerian system is directly inspired by previous French system which was organised around the GIE Bancaire and GSIT (Groupement pour un Système Interbancaire de Télécompensation).
The GIE, a recently created entity (2014) is actively promoting the adoption of electronic payments, primarily through the development and implementation of technical standards and regulations, compliance certification and public promotional campaigns.
SATIM, Société d’Automatisation des Transactions Interbancaires et de Monétique is focusing on the technical aspect.
Lack of originality
Algerian Banking sector is greatly inspired by France.
Each year, thousands of french speaking and french influenced graduates are renewing this french influence on the Algerian financial sector.
Algerian banking and financial laws and regulations are generally enacted shortly after the same laws and regulations have been enacted in France.
The same bureaucratic approach and lack of flexibility have been adopted in Algeria preventing the emergence of an efficient financial sector in the country.