A move wholeheartedly welcomed by Algerian government
Nissan Motor has signed a joint venture agreement with an Algerian private partner to construct an auto assembly plant at a cost of $160 million, the company stated on Wednesday.
The plant, near the western city of Oran, is going to start production in the first half of 2020 with an amount of 63,500 vehicles per year, Peyman Kargar, Nissan’s senior vice president and chairman of operations in Africa, Middle East and India, stated during a signing ceremony that took place in Algiers.
Nissan’s partner, Hasnaoui Group, will hold a most of the stake in the project, which is expected to generate 1,800 jobs.
Algeria has prohibited car imports as part of an attempt to slash spending because of lower oil and gas revenues, the major source of state finances.
“We want to help diversify our economy,” stated Hasnaoui Group’s owner Sofiane Hasnaoui.
Algeria, an OPEC member, has been making efforts to attract foreign investment and develop the non-energy sector, which represents only 6 percent of total export revenues.
“Algeria is a big country for us. Thanks to government’s support, we managed to conclude this deal,” stated Kargar.
“Our top priority is to meet local demand but we will think about exporting our product later,” he included.
The deal also consists training of the plant’s workers by Nissan staff, Hasnaoui stated.
