Algeria’s First AI Law: What the APN Deputies’ Proposal Signals for Tech Teams

A Parliamentary Moment for AI Governance

For most of the past three years, Algeria’s AI policy conversation has lived inside the executive branch. The National AI Strategy adopted on 8 December 2024 by the AI Council laid out six pillars — research, talent, infrastructure, investment, regulation, and sectoral adoption — but without any accompanying statute.

That is beginning to change. An increasingly lively debate within different political lines in the National People’s Assembly has led to what multiple sources describe as “a real need to legislate in the field of AI,” culminating in a legislative proposal submitted by a group of deputies aimed at regulating the development and use of the technology “in order to protect citizens and stimulate innovation,” according to a briefing cited by the African Union’s AI Watch tracker (compiled by White & Case).

The proposal is now queued for review by the Bureau of the Assembly. What it ultimately looks like matters for every Algerian team shipping AI features.

What the Proposal Is Likely to Contain

Public reporting on the draft remains limited, but the strategy document from December 2024 — and statements from successive ministers of digitization — point to a few probable pillars:

• Expanded role for the ANPDP — Algeria’s National Strategy explicitly proposes “expanding the Personal Data Protection Agency’s role in overseeing data protection and enforcing AI regulations,” per White & Case’s regional tracker.
• Extension of existing privacy rules to AI-specific risks — including profiling, automated decision-making, and biometric identification.
• A legal basis for public-sector AI procurement — allowing ministries to acquire AI systems under controlled conditions tied to the 500+ Digital Algeria 2030 projects.
• Sectoral guardrails — probably following the strategy’s focus on agriculture, healthcare, and cybersecurity.

The text will likely draw cues from the African Union’s Continental AI Strategy and from comparators like Morocco’s pending AI framework and Kenya’s AI Bill 2026 (which creates an Office of the AI Commissioner and a risk-based classification system).

Why This Moves Before a Full AI Statute Is Inevitable

Algeria has set an ambitious target: AI contributing 7% of GDP by 2027, with the domestic AI market projected to grow from around $498.9 million in 2025 to $1.69 billion by 2030, according to analyst estimates cited by the New Lines Institute. Those numbers only materialize if the legal environment is predictable enough for enterprise buyers — banks, telecoms, ministries — to commit to multi-year AI contracts.

The December 2024 strategy names “developing a legal framework to govern AI” as an explicit pillar. The APN proposal is the earliest legislative attempt to put that pillar into statute form.

What Algerian Startups Should Do Now

Even before the text is public, teams building AI products for the Algerian market can position themselves ahead of the curve:

• Document your model inventory. Every in-production model — whether third-party API, fine-tuned LLM, or classical ML — should be cataloged with purpose, data inputs, retention, and decision impact. This mirrors what most emerging AI laws require.
• Classify use cases by risk. Following the EU AI Act and Kenya’s proposed framework, classify use cases as unacceptable / high / limited / minimal. Most Algerian startup use cases will sit at limited or minimal, but identifying the high-risk ones (hiring, credit, healthcare) early avoids rushed rework.
• Pair every AI feature with a privacy assessment. Under Law 25-11 (July 2025), high-risk processing already requires a DPIA. Extending that practice to every AI feature will make future AI-specific audits almost automatic.
• Track the ANPDP’s posture. If the authority’s remit expands to AI, its public communications and inspection choices will signal which sectors are priority targets.

The Strategic Frame for Enterprise CTOs

For CTOs at banks, telecoms, and public institutions, the signal is clear: AI governance cannot be deferred to “after the law passes.” The Presidential Decree 26-07 (January 2026) already mandates cybersecurity units across public institutions, and several decrees anticipate AI-adjacent risks (data classification, interoperability, audit trails). A governance layer built now — model registry, risk classification, DPIA discipline — will survive whatever the APN proposal ultimately codifies.

Algeria is not Europe; the proposal will likely land lighter than the EU AI Act. But “lighter than Europe” is still binding law. The teams that treat this moment as a design prompt rather than a regulatory threat will have a 12-24 month head start on the rest of the market.

Sources & Further Reading

• AI Watch: Global Regulatory Tracker — African Union — White & Case LLP
• Why Algeria Is Positioned To Become North Africa’s AI Leader — New Lines Institute
• Algeria: National Artificial Intelligence Strategy — Digital Policy Alert
• Algeria Unveils AI Strategy to Boost Digital Transformation — Ecofin Agency
• AI Regulations in Algeria (African Union) — JustAI