Russia becomes top exporter of grain to Algeria amid France rift
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Russia now provides 90% of the Algerian needs for grains, while orders from French suppliers reached 0 after the fallout over the West Sahara feud between Algeria and France.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune shake hands at a plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, June 16, 2023. (AP)
Russia is now the main supplier of grain to Algeria, providing 90% of the country's imports after the North African country halted its purchases of grain from France following President Emmanuel Macron's support for Morocco's claim over the Western Sahara.
A publication by L'Opinion said that France was the main supplier of food for Algeria, however, now experts forecast that in 2025 the volume of supplies will be zero, with the Algerians ordering no grains from French suppliers, effectively pushing them out.
Macron and the Western Sahara
The Western Sahara conflict started in 1975 after Spain withdrew from the region which became disputed between Morocco and the Polisario Front, a Sahrawi nationalist movement that seeks independence for the region.
Morocco controls about 80% of the Western Sahara, however, the Polisario Front called for a UN-supervised referendum on self-determination in the Western Sahara as stipulated in the 1991 ceasefire agreement, something that has not yet happened.
The Polisario Front has been advocating for the territory's independence since before Spain withdrew in 1975, while Morocco supports a plan for limited autonomy of the Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty.
French President Macron sent a message to King Mohammed VI in July 2024 stating that the "present and future of the Western Sahara are within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty" asserting the "inviolability of the French position on this issue of the national security of the kingdom."
This triggered tensions between France and Algeria, formerly a French colony, with the latter responding immediately by withdrawing its ambassador to France and calling Macron's statement a "step that no other French government has taken before."
The Algerian Association of Banks and Financial Institutions assembled local banks to give a new order banning all import and export transactions with France after the African country had banned French enterprises from a wheat import tender, asking bidders not to include wheat of French provenance.
