Reforms at Algeria’s National Agency for the Management of Microcredit improve access to capital for women entrepreneurs

Established via Executive Decree No. 04-14 in 2004, the National Agency for the Management of Microcredit (ANGEM) is one of Algeria’s oldest socioeconomic instruments to reach individuals outside of conventional bank financing. ANGEM’s programs offer interest free loans for qualified applicants, non-financial development, and a mutual guarantee fund that covers up to 85 percent of the loan. The overall aim of the agency is to support poverty alleviation through equitable loan provision and access to capital—which has created meaningful opportunities for women who benefit the most from inclusive financing.

While Algeria has fundamental rights to employment, equal pay, and property for women through legislative and regulatory systems, women only account for 19 percent of the labour force. ANGEM seeks to increase female labor force participation through encouraging female entrepreneurship by offering finance, developmental training, and mentorship in business management. Furthermore, 74 percent of women entrepreneurs operate their business from home, allowing them to maintain income while managing their household.¹ 

With the goal of equitable improvement of microcredit programs in Algeria, the agency’s mission was to provide access to capital for those ineligible to traditional banking. Its financial programs centered the needs of university and training center graduates, women, and rural and remote communities, who often could not clear the collateral requirements.² ANGEM has notably improved opportunities for women entrepreneurs. By formally recognizing self-employment and home-based work amongst women, the program has been shaped to meet their specific needs.³ This design process is considerably significant for expanding women’s access capital for enterprises typically excluded—such as traditional handicrafts and provisioning activities.

Implementation

Microcredit was first established in Algeria in 1999 to ensure the realization of economic rights enshrined by the Algerian Constitution, but the measure faced significant barriers. Recommendations from an international forum in December 2002 on microcredit in Algeria led to Executive Decree No. 04-14, establishing ANGEM (in addition to Executive Decree No. 04-15 and No. 04-16, which set conditions on the establishment of the agency). ANGEM was part of an overall national strategy to promote the achievement of decent standard of living and employment pathways for citizens while supporting transition towards a market economy.⁴ 

ANGEM is a government-funded agency operating under the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Start-ups, and Micro-Enterprises, with its budget and loan capital allocated through Algeria’s national budget.⁵ To streamline the program’s processes, ANGEM ensured that loans were granted in a decentralized way, simplified eligibility conditions, set operating rules sensitive to the conditions of the poor, while prioritizing demand from housewives, productive families, craftsmen and small farmers and breeders.⁶ To qualify, loan applicants are required to be 18 years or over, maintain a fixed residence, possess knowledge in the planned enterprise, and have unstable income with no outside support for business creation.⁷ With 49 regional agencies throughout Algeria, loan recipients can receive assistance with their application across rural to urban areas. Applications may also be initiated online.⁸ 

ANGEM’s microcredit model is the foundation of the program. By supporting minimum loans of DZD 100,000 [USD 754.85] to up to DZD 1 million  [USD 7,548.54], ANGEM encourages the establishment of micro-entreprises. Through microcredit loans, participants may use the capital to set up small businesses, including from the home, and acquire small equipment and raw materials. ANGEM offers three loan types:

1. Interest-free microloans, which are eligible to purchase of raw materials (no more than DZD 100,000 in northern regions and DZD 200,000 [USD 1,509.71] in southern regions). The repayment period extends up to 36 months for DZD 100,000 and 54 months for a DZD 200,000 loan.⁹
2. Partially-interest free loans with a mixed structure. An interest free-loan equivalent to 29% the project’s overall cost, may be granted if the latter does not exceed DZD 1 million, is offered. The remaining portion is financed through a bank loan, which does carry interest. 
3. Larger loans. For DZD 1 million financing, there is a personal contribution of 1 percent, and the repayment period can extend up to eight years with a three-year postponement of repayment for the bank loan portion.¹⁰ The larger loans are not interest free. To limit the risk of default, ANGEM operates a Mutual Guarantee Fund for Microcredits, to which borrowers themselves make contributions. In the event of default, this fund covers up to 85 percent of the outstanding debt owed to participating banks, reducing the banks’ risk and encouraging lending to applicants who would otherwise be turned away.¹¹ 

Business development opportunities support loan recipients by addressing social constraints faced by female entrepreneurs. Participants benefit from access to expert business consultations and specialized professionals, who may assist with business development, review of commercial, technical and financial conditions, economic studies focused on the business stability, and other business support. While providing business development services, ANGEM does not dictate the terms or scope of projects it assists with, preserving the loan recipient’s autonomy. Access to development is free of cost for all microloan recipients.¹²

Investment

No specific ANGEM budget line-item appears in Algeria’s publicly available finance laws; the agency’s total cost to the government has not been independently verified.

Assessment

ANGEM’s results are striking. Since 2004, it has supported the creation of more than one million micro-enterprises and one million jobs across 150,000 activities in different sectors of the economy.¹³ Women have been among its most significant beneficiaries: between 2019 and 2021, 64 percent of ANGEM credits were granted to women.¹⁴ ANGEM’s impact on women entrepreneurs has been amplified through its partnership with the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) and the World Bank which delivered e-commerce training to women across 25 Algerian provinces (wilayas), targeting 27,500 women entrepreneurs by the end of 2025.¹⁵ Of the women who completed the training, more than 74 percent integrated online platforms into their businesses. Amina, a soap maker from Algiers, is one such participant. Through the program, she went from selling exclusively in her neighborhood to shipping products across Algeria and abroad.

A social protection gap persists, as 83.2 percent of women entrepreneurs lack social insurance coverage, representing a broader deficiency in Algeria’s informal economy that extends beyond ANGEM’s mandate alone.¹⁶ Nonetheless, ANGEM remains one of Algeria’s most effective mechanisms for expanding access to finance across lines of gender, age, and geography. By providing both capital and non-financial support to populations systematically excluded from conventional banking, especially for women in rural communities, the program has demonstrably reduced unemployment while contributing to economic diversification.¹⁷ The 2024 launch of TAMKEEN, a dedicated stream targeting housewives, rural women, and young individuals, reflects the government’s continued effort to deepen the program’s reach among Algeria’s most underserved populations.¹⁸ 

Photo Caption © Accueil | ANGEM.

Tags

• Algeria
• Gender
• Income & Wealth
• Labor
• Middle East & North Africa
• Middle-Income Country
• Redistribution