Cevital is a new industrial enterprise in Algeria‘s agro-foods sector. Strategically located on industrial land adjoining the Port of Bejaia, 250 km east of Algiers, Cevital is a $200 million plus investment for the production of vegetable oils, oil derivatives, and refined sugar. Group President, Mr. Issad Rebrab, initially suggested a partnership with the state-owned Enterprise Nationale de Corps Gras (ENCG) – the one-time monopoly for vegetable oil production – via the purchase of an obsolete production unit, which Cevital would then reorganize and upgrade. When ENCG declined the offer, Cevital drew up a feasibility study and went out on its own, with impressive results. In 1999, its first year of production, Cevital managed a profit of AD600 million ($6 million) on turnover of AD3 billion. For 2000, the group is projecting a net profit of AD2.7 billion ($33 million), which means that Mr. Rebrab expects to recoup his investment within two-and-a-half years. The company currently has an approximate 50% share of the local market and will soon begin producing margarine, effectively eliminating the country‘s need to import the product. 

On a smaller scale, but equally impressive, is Fertalge. In its short existence – Fertalge was established in 1997 – this 100% privately owned company became the country‘s eighth-largest exporter in its second year of production, overtaking Algeria‘s huge, moribund state industries in a single bound. Aptly named, Fertalge produces liquid agricultural fertilizer, a petroleum derivate, which it exports mainly to Europe. France is its biggest market, followed by Belgium and then Germany. The company also ships small quantities to Spain. In the first two quarters of 2000, Fertalge exported more than 100,000 tons of product with a value of $12 million and is planning to increase its production. The company‘s CEO, Mr. Mohamed Amieur, argues that Fertalge has managed to exploit the inherent advantages of Algeria: its cheap input costs such as energy and manpower and its proximity to one of the world‘s biggest single markets. “There is a lot of money to be made in Algeria if you have a product of international standards,” says Amieur.

In just one year of production, Fertalge became
one of the country's most important exporters