Algeria's economic and sociopolitical challenges, among others, have raised concerns about the country's capacity to deal with the global crisis the Covid-19 pandemic poses amid recent protests and mass uprisings by citizens.
The challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, have put unprecedented strain on Algeria's economy, with newly elected president Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who has pushed for a turnaround of the countries economic status, at a time when the world's economy continues to crash at a rapid pace.
Planned reforms by the new government have been held back, and the new economic model has shown no signs of flourishing.
In the first quarter of this year, tumbling oil prices, the global stock market crashing and food suppliers struggling to keep up with demand, has caused Algeria's foreign exchange reserves to drop from $193.6bn in 2014 to $62bn, theafricareport.com says.
Although the oil and gas sector continues to bring profit to the north African country, the Covid-19 pandemic has severely affected the work-force, and without three months of pay, citizens will continue to feel the crunch.
The state's financial prospects are stretched. Continuous conflict with Libya, a new economic model, are all added to Algeria's hit list of economic concerns.
A workers disinfects the facade of Algiers's biggest mosque, the Al-Djamaa el-Kabir mosque, on Sunday, March 22, 2020. Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered the security forces to enforce a ban on any public gathering as part of the government's measures to contain the coronavirus. Photo by: AP Photo/Anis Belghoul