Today is the 65th anniversary of 🇫🇷#France's atmospheric nuclear test in 🇩🇿#Algeria.

The bomb was 4x the bomb the US used on Hiroshima.

France refuses give Algeria access to maps of the radioactive fallout.

France says they're classified.

Mission civilisatrice.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8RM...

Transparency Int'l (@anticorruption) 2024 Corruption Perception Index is out.

North Africa Rankings:

🇹🇳 #Tunisia - 92
🇲🇦 #Morocco - 99
🇩🇿 #Algeria - 107
🇲🇷 #Mauritania - 130
🇱🇾 #Libya - 173

Full Map/Index:

www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2024

Last Week's The Maghreb This Week:

🇲🇦 #Morocco unions stage general strike
🇩🇿 #Algeria CoS call w/ 🇺🇸 US counterpart
🇲🇷 #Mauritania former prez continues to haunt the current admin
🇺🇸 USAID shuttering impacts Maghreb countries from 🇱🇾 #Libya $106million to Algeria $3million

northafricarisk.com

Labor orgs in #Morocco call for a general strike for 5-6 Feb to protest pension reform, cost of living, and wage stagnation.

This is the first general strike in 9 years.

We'll see how it's received.

Wild.

🇩🇿 #Algeria Army CoS GEN Chengriha spoke with 🇺🇸 #USA counterpart Chairman Joint Chiefs GEN Brown today.

This is the highest level of engagement Algeria has had with uniformed US military personnel.

Unprecedented.

Last Week's The Maghreb This Week

🇩🇿 #Algeria O&G bid round's attracting attention
🇲🇦 #Morocco PM Akhannouch won an LNG distribution tender
🇱🇾 #Libya's O&G sector is higgledy-piggledy
🇲🇷 #Mauritania Ould Ghazouani can't decide whether to free MOAA or not
🇹🇳 #Tunisia FX reserves dropped by US$1 billion

In its regional competition for influence, #Algeria is deploying its national champion - Sonatrach - which just undertook bilateral engagements with #Mauritania and #Niger.

I believe it's a first for Mauritania.

#Mauritania President Ould Ghazouani is on the horns of a dilemma.

Imprisoned former president Ould Abdelaziz is sick.

1) Does Ghazouani release him on humanitarian grounds and risk MOAA orchestrating a political opposition?

2) Or does he keep him in prison and risk him dying behind bars?

Last Week's The Maghreb This Week:

🇱🇾 #Libya's NOC is going thru some things
🇩🇿 #Algeria & 🇺🇸 USA signed a mil-mil accord
🇲🇷 #Mauritania is not joining the Abraham Accords
🇲🇦 #Morocco King MoVI's 🇦🇪 #UAE vacay continues
🇹🇳 #Tunisia's planting season is still in jeopardy

northafricarisk.com

Busy day for 🇺🇸 #USA / 🇩🇿 #Algeria relations:

➡️ @USAfricaCommand
signs security cooperation agreement with Algerian MDN - a milestone for an historically non-aligned country

➡️ @Chevron
commits to undertaking offshore exploration studies with Alnaft, the Algerian hydrocarbons licensing authority.

Most countries enter into alliances with other countries to pursue their national interests and then become entangled with one another.

But what if a country's foundational national interest is precisely NOT to become entangled with other countries?

Last Week's The Maghreb This Week:

Last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday was the 12th anniversary of the In Amenas hostage crisis.

Friends and colleges were lost.

May their memories be a blessing.

Despite all the hype about green H2 projects in southern #Morocco, only one project has been granted approval (Total Energies Chbika).

No other proposals submitted under Offre Maroc have received a response.

Everything is dead in the water.

Lots of talk, not so much walk.

Last Week's The Maghreb This Week

🇩🇿 #Algeria / 🇫🇷 #France relations are plummeting
🇲🇦 #Morocco King Mo VI took a private vacation to 🇦🇪 #UAE
🇲🇷 #Mauritania GTA gas field is up and running
🇷🇺 #Russia is moving military assets to 🇱🇾 #Libya
🇹🇳 #Tunisia gets cooking gas from 🇩🇿 Algeria to relieve shortages

Remittances from Moroccans residing abroad hit a record high in 2024, projected to account for 9% of GDP (!) which will exceed tourism (7% of GDP) despite Morocco hosting a record number of tourists last year (17.4 million!) and phosphates (5% of GDP).

#morocco #maroc

Fascinating - faced with a bottled cooking gas shortage in Kasserine #Tunisia, a deal was brokered allowing Tunisian gas distributors to fill bottles in #Algeria.

Other towns further from the border - like Kairouan - are still facing gas shortages.