Algeria is paving the way for a stronger natural gas export profile in Europe, building off of preexisting relationships with Spain, Italy and Portugal, Forbes reported earlier this year. But efforts to restore growth based off energy sector expansion have a limited chance of revitalizing success as two years of low oil prices bear down on government revenues. “Boosting existing fields and new fields coming online this year will push output up,” Sonatrach’s CEO Amine Mazouzi said in January. The Algerian economy needs large-scale government reforms to improve the prospects for its populace in the short and medium terms—and not just the lackluster reforms that entrenched officials have already been pursuing to encourage new businesses and balance the budget by increasing the tax burden on citizens. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has spent the last 18 years building a system that offers Algerians subsidized fuel and food for loyalty and national […]