Algeria has introduced a series of policies aimed at eliminating its dependence on fossil fuels.

The oil and gas-rich country will invest heavily in renewable energy, according to the government's energy transition strategy.

«Algeria has more than 3,000 hours of sunshine a year. Some regions of the country have 3,900 hours a year, including the plateaus and the desert," the Minister of Energy and Mines, Mohamed Arkab, told the BBC.

The Algerian Renewable Energy Program aims, in the short and medium term, to create a production capacity of 15,000 MW of solar energy, increasing the share of renewables in the country's energy mix, which is currently only 1%.

The state oil and gas company, Sonatrach, plans to replace its conventional power plants throughout the south of the country with renewable energy plants with a capacity of 1,300 MW.

Algeria has also announced the deployment of 1,000 electric vehicle chargers in its 58 provinces by March this year, in order to promote sustainability in the highly polluting transport sector.

The new annual budget has also imposed a blanket ban on the manufacture and import of diesel vehicles.

Local automakers must also start a line of electric vehicles to continue their business, according to the budget.

The minister has also expressed his country's great interest in new technologies and the various applications of hydrogen as an important contributor to its clean energy transition.

Source: BBC Africa