Algeria’s president Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s latest address to Algeria’s parliament was billed as a roadmap for 2026. But the more he spoke the more it sounded more like a masterclass in myth creation and selective memory.
One of the highlights of all the blunders was when he said Algeria will boast a GDP of $400 billion in 2027. That means Aleria would need a growth rate of 35% or more annually.
Then Tebboune declared Algeria was the first country to invent insulin and blood sugar test kits, a statement that left historians and scientists scratching their heads.
He also insisted that the industrial sector accounts for 10% of GDP, though no credible data backs this up. Algeria relies almost entirely on oil and gas exports.
Meanwhile, unemployment benefits, he claimed, are higher than the minimum wage, a paradox that would make any economist wince.
On foreign policy, Tebboune defended the Polisario separatists by invoking self-determination, a principle he seems less eager to apply to Kabyle activists at home. His tone toward Tunisia was condescending, reinforcing perceptions of Algeria’s paternalistic posture in the Maghreb and the Sahel.
Perhaps the most striking moment was his boast that Gara Djebilet is the world’s third-largest iron ore mine, a claim as inflated as his GDP projections. Even Louiza Hanoune once revealed that Tebboune complained about receiving false data. Now, the president himself appears to be the chief purveyor of misinformation.
