During a working visit to the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, Ahmed Azimov, Chairman of the Russian-Algerian Business Council, and Abdelhamid Cherfaoui, President of Frater Razes, met with Dr. Ouassim Kouidri, Minister of Pharmaceutical Industry of Algeria. The meeting focused on a project to establish a Russian-Algerian joint venture for the production and promotion of PCR diagnostic systems and reagents for molecular diagnostics in Algeria.
The project is based on technological solutions developed by a leading Russian manufacturer in the field of molecular diagnostics and addresses a confirmed systemic shortage in this segment, identified by the Union of Medical Analysis Laboratories of Algeria, SALAM. The signing ceremony of the joint venture agreement was attended by Alexey Solomatin, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Algeria.
Minister Kouidri expressed his support for the initiative and encouraged Russian companies to enter the Algerian market more actively. He noted that the positive experience accumulated in Russian-Algerian cooperation in the pharmaceutical sector provides a solid foundation that both sides are interested in expanding and scaling up.
Abdelhamid Cherfaoui, President of Frater Razes, emphasized that Algeria’s laboratory diagnostics market offers broad opportunities for companies with advanced technological solutions and readiness to localize production.
Algeria is the largest pharmaceutical market in North Africa, valued at USD 4.5–4.7 billion, and is consistently moving from import substitution toward technological partnership. The country covers around 70% of its domestic demand for medicines through local production and openly invites foreign partners willing to localize technologies, offering them protected access to the public procurement market, which accounts for about 60% of the sector.
As Ahmed Azimov, Chairman of the Russian-Algerian Business Council, noted at SPIEF 2026: “Algeria is important not only as a standalone market. It is a practical platform for joint projects and for entering the wider African continent.”
Source: RABC Media
