Algerians struggle to afford Ramadan festivities as prices rise despite government pledges

Algiers, Algeria — As Algerians fast, pray and gather for the holy month of Ramadan, one worry lingers on many minds: how to afford the holiday festivities this year.

In addition to its religious significance for billions of Muslims, Ramadan means tables filled with rich and varied meals eaten after the muezzin’s call to break the fast at sunset.

Today, these festivities come at a cost beyond the reach of many Algerians, whose purchasing power has declined in recent years despite Algeria’s gas and oil riches, pushing more and more people below the poverty line.

Food prices have skyrocketed and tensions in marketplaces now occasionally erupt into violence.

After Algeria was rocked by nationwide protests in 2019, the government expressed concern about broader social unrest and promised economic aid.

“In the 1970s, we didn’t earn much, but we could stock up for Ramadan and buy fresh meat, fruit and vegetables,” Ahmed Messia, a retired railway worker, told The Associated Press at the Clauzel market in central Algiers.

On the ground floor of the market, the heartbeat of commercial life in the Algerian capital, traders’ stalls are well-stocked with fruit and vegetables, displaying fascinating artistry.

But as Ramadan approaches, prices rise.

An elderly woman, clutching her traditional white Hike dress, lamented that the price of onions had risen from 45 dinars to 100 dinars (35 cents to 77 cents) per kilo in two days. She hurled insults at the disinterested salesman as he talked to her about profit margins. Carrots are sold at 150 dinars, peppers at 200 dinars and green beans at 550 dinars per kilo.

The woman’s shopping basket was empty.

The Algerian government has had little effect on Ramadan speculators. In a special recent cabinet discussion on Ramadan food supplies, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune vowed to “guarantee all conditions for citizens to spend the holy month in perfect peace and without worry.”

His promises include the government importing 144,000 sheep and 46,000 cattle to make meat more readily available for Ramadan meals. Locally sourced mutton from Algeria’s High Plateau, known for its flavor and aroma, as well as young cattle from the Kabyle Mountains are prohibitively expensive even for middle-income professionals.

Civil society plays an important role in helping distressed families during Ramadan. Restaurant owners turn their establishments into soup kitchens or “mercy restaurants” that offer free meals.

“It’s a good mechanism for solidarity and civic awareness, but the proliferation of restaurants like this says something serious about our society: how entrenched poverty is in our country,” said academic Hosin Zairar.

One of the largest Mercy restaurant operations in Algiers in different neighborhoods by the Algerian Red Crescent. People fill rows of long tables inside a huge tent in the central square to break their fast. “The atmosphere is family-friendly and we serve 800 meals a day,” said Nour El-Houda Remdani, one of the organizers, as she walked between rows of diners benefiting from the provisions.

Mercy restaurants were mainly frequented by singles, homeless people or travellers. But in recent years, entire families now fill these makeshift eateries.

Even the president has acknowledged profound economic changes in recent years.

“Algeria’s once proud middle class is now being destroyed by the crisis,” Tebboune said in an interview on Algerian television earlier this month.

Tebboune promised an increase in the minimum wage from 20,000 to 24,000 dinars, a 5 to 10% increase in retirement pensions and unemployment benefits for university graduates from 15,000 to 18,000 dinars.

The average salary in Algeria is 42,800 dinars, roughly $330 at the official exchange rate and less than $235 in the informal market.

Redoun Boudjema, a professor at the Institute of Journalism in Algiers, said the government’s Ramadan aid measures represented “social peace” and an attempt to “absorb political anger caused by restrictions on civil and trade union freedoms”.