Algeria is determined to change its startup landscape by all means. Following the passage of an executive decree creating a national committee for the labelling of startups, innovative projects and incubators, the country is about to create national micro-activity zones housing startups. According to the country’s minister Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister in charge of micro-enterprises, Nassim Diafat, the creation of activity zones will be carried out and managed by public enterprises of an economic and commercial nature with a view to renting them out to startups at competitive prices.
“This will allow young people to have the spaces they need to realize their projects through the creation of startups adapted to the specificities of their regions. These young promoters will benefit from support within the framework of the National Support and Development Agency. entrepreneurship,” he said.
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- Diafat also announced the constitution, next week, of a departmental commission to bring together local representatives of young startup entrepreneurs in order to enable them to raise the concerns and obstacles they encounter and define activities that can be implemented at the level of each province.
- He also said that “as part of support for startups suffering from lack of means to finance the acquisition of raw materials, it was decided, as a support measure for entrepreneurship, the granting of operating credits in the amount of one million dinars.”
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A Country Greatly Supporting Startups In Recent Times
In December 2020, Algerie Telecom, Algeria’s state-owned telecom operator, unveiled new specifications for its calls for tenders. The new specifications would facilitate access of over 2,300 technological microenterprises to public procurement.
This followed the launch of the Algeria Startup Fund in October the same year. The launch was inspired by the statement of the President of the Republic, who during the meeting of the Council of Ministers held in January 2020, ordered the development of an emergency program for startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in particular the creation of a special fund or a bank intended for their financing. Following that, Executive Decree 20–254 of September 15, 2020 creating the national committee for the labeling of “startups”, “innovative projects” and “incubators” was published in the last issue of the Official Journal, Tunisia’s national gazette.
Labelled startups and incubators in Algeria have also been the greatest beneficiaries of the country’s newly passed finance law. The 2021 Finance Act provides for changes in taxes (Tax On Professional Activities, TAP; and Value-added Tax VAT). Under the law, companies in Algeria with a startup label will be exempt from several taxes, starting with the TAP (tax on professional activity) and the IBS (tax on corporate profits. companies) for a period of 2 years from the date of obtaining the said label.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer
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