Algerian natural riches coexisted with debt and unemployment under mismanagement

Evidence

The sad comment of an Algerian interviewed in a French news magazine is typical: “Algeria was once the granary of Rome, and now it has to import cereals to make bread. It is a land of flocks and gardens, and it imports meat and fruit. It is rich in oil and gas, and it has a foreign debt of $25 billion and two million unemployed.” He goes on to say that this is the result of thirty years of mismanagement. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1156