Algeria -- laboratory facilities "40% broken"

Bad news for Algerian researchers -- according to a report in El Khabar, the country's Director General of Scientific Research and Technology Development Aouragh Hafid says that 40% of Algeria's scientific laboratory equipment is broken down, while another 10% has never even been assembled. Steps that had to be taken included maintenance and after-sale service obligations in supply contracts, a two-year guarantee on all equipment supplied and adequate staff training. A blacklist of "unwanted suppliers is also to be set up.

Despite the poor state of the available equipment, Aouragh has disclosed that Algeria is still ranked third in Africa in terms of scientific research performance, having received seven innovation patents and following the publication of 2,500 research articles that had been published in different scientific magazines worldwide.