Abdenour Keramane: “The goal of total electrification had been achieved”

Mohsen Abdelmoumen: You have written several books about your 20-year experience at Sonelgaz, from the post-independence period until the late 1970s. What motivated you to share this rich experience with the public? And what are the key messages you wish to convey about the epic story of the country’s electrification, especially to younger generations?

Abdenour Keramane: Since deciding to step away from public responsibilities, I have reflected on how to continue serving our country. I established an Engineering Bureau with two former colleagues from Sonelgaz, with the goal of mobilizing the expertise of retired professionals on pressing issues. I also launched Medenergie, a Mediterranean energy journal, in a field where Algeria stands as a leader—a publication that quickly gained international recognition.

At the same time, as I had the privilege and distinct honor of being among the pioneering engineers of independence who contributed to building modern Algeria, I felt it was my duty to recount our remarkable history and pass on the lessons learned—both successes and failures—to younger generations.

Let me be clear: I do not claim to present this experience as a model. My only wish is for our youth to fully embrace their country’s history as told by firsthand witnesses, in its entirety and authenticity, rather than relying on generalizations or inaccuracies sometimes spread on social media or in undocumented writings.

Therefore, my books are, above all, personal testimonies. It is up to our youth—and only them—to draw whatever lessons they find useful, considering today’s population dynamics, national environment, and global context.

In your testimony, what stands out is the combination of challenges and adversities that you and your teams had to overcome with modest financial, human, and material resources in the face of a monumental task—made even more difficult by the “scorched earth policy” carried out by the former leadership and a large portion of the Pied-Noir executives at EGA. With hindsight, how do you explain that Sonelgaz’s employees and managers found the faith and energy to take on this challenge so naturally, as if it were self-evident?

Access to electricity is undoubtedly an area where independent Algeria can compete even with developed countries, because by the mid-1990s—just thirty years after independence—the goal of total electrification had been achieved. Established as a strategic objective in the National Charter adopted in 1976, this monumental undertaking, 90% of which was accomplished using national resources, became a legitimate and just demand—a rectification of colonial injustice. Only one in ten Algerian families in rural areas had electricity, while European settlers were all connected!

To those who boast about the “benefits of colonization” and “its legacy, EGA,” we remind them that besides this pitiful rural electrification rate of 10%, when Europeans left the country in 1962, EGA lost 87% of its revenue, 72% of its workforce, and all of its executives—except for the two remaining Algerian employees, who held no managerial positions. These figures alone are enough to characterize an institution designed primarily to serve the needs of the European minority. Therefore, you are absolutely right to emphasize the magnitude of the challenges and the multitude of obstacles!

Faced with this catastrophic situation, the Algerian Provisional Executive entrusted a small team of engineers and managers—led by the late Abdelkader Zaibek, an experienced electrical engineer recently released from the Ain-Oussera camp (who would become EGA’s first Algerian director-general), and myself, a freshly graduated young engineer—with the mission of ensuring continuity and service in close collaboration with UGTA trade union leaders, who played a decisive role in managing the company’s operations.

To answer your question precisely, I would say that patriotism came first—our faith in the future of our country and our fierce determination to radically improve the living conditions of our people created an atmosphere of mobilization that ultimately overcame all obstacles.

We can never pay enough tribute to the pioneering workers and managers of the sector who contributed immensely to the country’s development and the improvement of living standards. They managed to transform the modest EGA establishment—previously dedicated almost exclusively to serving the European population and inherited at independence—into a modern, high-performing enterprise covering the entire national territory, adapted to the political, economic, and social realities of our country, serving citizens and national development.

With the resilience and dynamism that still characterize the public company today!

You also emphasize the constant yet demanding support of President Boumediene as a major factor in your success at the head of Sonelgaz. What do you find particularly special about President Boumediene’s leadership that younger generations should know about?

During Boumediene’s era—we must not forget that we had just gained independence a few years earlier, after 132 years of destructive colonization, and everything had to be built from scratch! —Algeria had a vision for the future, a societal project, implemented through medium-term national development plans and, for certain disadvantaged regions, special development programs.”

“The Tripartite (a social dialogue framework) did not yet exist—it was established later by the late Prime Minister Sid Ahmed Ghozali—but the CNES (National Economic and Social Council), with a truly representative composition, served as a framework for reflection, consultation, and evaluation of public policies.

Through his patriotism, charisma, and accessible yet refined language, Boumediene was able to rally both the masses and the elites to his cause, mobilizing the entire population—except, unfortunately, the national private sector, whose marginalization undoubtedly cost us several points of economic growth.

Unlike his successor, who preached the slogan ‘the right man in the right place’ without truly practicing it, Boumediene surrounded himself with the country’s best professionals based on competence and dedication, not allegiance or nepotism—except for a few of his fellow fighters, for whom he showed excessive leniency. Moreover, he strongly upheld institutional stability, which certainly helped foster a climate of trust and encouraged initiative at all levels.

I still remember being in Moscow in the late 1960s, accompanied by just one of my colleagues—we were few in number back then, and roles had to be assigned—facing a dozen Soviet engineers, far more experienced than us. Empowered by this trust, we negotiated step by step the contract for Algeria’s first thermal power plant, built in Annaba to supply, among others, the El Hadjar steel complex—and we were barely over 30 years old!

Sonelgaz is renowned as a leading institution for training competent and seasoned professionals. What approach did you adopt to create and sustain a dynamic that still endures today?

Human resources management was undeniably one of Sonelgaz’s greatest strengths. The recruitment of executives, the selection of managers, and the appointment of senior staff followed a particularly rigorous and demanding procedure.

The emphasis on training quality was so significant that the company seized every opportunity to provide staff with continuous development—whether through upskilling, adaptation to new methods, or modern technologies. Mastery of training engineering techniques and methodologies allowed us to implement tailored programs whenever needed. As a result, employees were constantly immersed in training, whether through on-the-job learning with skilled and experienced technicians, specialized courses at Algerian or international institutions, adaptation to new equipment at manufacturers’ sites, publication of technical articles in specialized journals, or participation in conferences with broad dissemination of insights gained.

Three major training centers were established, each with specialized missions: Blida, focused on electrical and gas industry trades, Ain M’Lila, dedicated to new project implementation activities, Ben Aknoun, aimed at executive development and management training. Additionally, a language lab at the headquarters provided Arabic and English courses for all employees.

Beyond training, a culture of dialogue and collaboration at all levels of the company—combined with extensive delegation of responsibilities—ensured active employee participation in management and fostered a strong sense of trust and commitment.

Our investment in executives extended beyond Sonelgaz, as we took pride in supplying skilled professionals to other sectors. Whenever possible, we supported their career growth into higher roles within other government departments, public enterprises, and even ministerial positions.

With renewable energies and green/blue hydrogen, etc., our operators are regularly under strong pressure to heavily invest in still immature technologies. How did you approach these technological choices when you were at the helm of Sonelgaz?

Sonelgaz always refused to serve as a testing ground for international companies seeking innovation frameworks and experimentation with new technologies due to the risks involved and the potential costs of failure. When I was an engineering student, I was struck by the French authorities’ tendency to conduct experiments in Algeria. Our professors constantly boasted about French technological feats: the first prestressed concrete runway at Maison-Blanche-Dar El Beida airport, the first multi-arch prestressed concrete dam on the Oued Djen-Djen, the first gas turbine power plant in Hassi-R’mel, not to mention nuclear tests and chemical weapons in the Sahara. Far from applauding these achievements, I wondered: why don’t they test these at home?

I remember that in the mid-1970s, a well-reputed European electromechanical equipment manufacturer offered us an 80 MW gas turbine that matched our needs at half the usual price for such technology—which obviously raised suspicions. After detailed studies and thorough investigations, we discovered it was a prototype not yet in commercial operation. We rejected the proposal, despite the attractive financial terms.

At Sonelgaz, we always believed that developing national programs and training highly qualified personnel—not just for operations but also for engineering and maintenance—were prerequisites before adopting new technology. Moreover, we never used the EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) model for projects but instead opted for split contracts, allowing us to control all implementation phases and maximize the involvement of national operators.

Interview conducted by Mohsen Abdelmoumen

Abdenour Keramane is the publishing director of MedEnergie magazine, which he founded. A former Scout, member of the UGMA, and official in the university section of the FLN Federation of France, he became the director of the School of Public Works in Algiers upon its establishment. Later, he served as Commissioner for Scientific and Technical Research and as an associate professor at the Algiers Polytechnic School.  He held high-ranking positions within the central administration. A graduate engineer from the École des Ponts et Chaussées, he led Sonelgaz until 1981. In this capacity, he was a founding member and president of the Maghreb Electricity Committee (Comelec), a founding member and president of the Algerian Energy Committee, and vice-president of the Algerian Gas Union.  In 1984, he was appointed Commissioner for Scientific and Technical Research under the Prime Minister and later became president of the Equipment Investment Fund (Fonds de participation Biens d’équipement). He joined the government in 1989 as Minister of Vocational Training, then as Minister of Industry and Mines. In 1993, he was assigned to Milan as Managing Director of the Trans Mediterranean Pipeline Company (TMPC), an Algerian-Italian joint venture responsible for the Transmed underwater gas pipeline.

Published in French in Algeriepatriotique and La Nouvelle République