ABSTRACT
After three decades of repeated attempts to join the group of advanced countries, the Maghrebian countries have come to realise that the way forward lies in the mastery of scientific and technological knowledge and its efficient application to the production of goods and services. The social and political troubles that erupted in Algeria constitute a transition problem aggravated in part by the rough edges of the adjustment programmes dictated by the IMF and the World Bank. Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) have been applied over a longer duration in Morocco and Tunisia than in Algeria. The aim of African Capacity Fund (ACF) is to develop local capacities in economic management and in science and technology or human resource development in a nutshell. The issue of technological learning is of a particular importance to the Maghreb and especially in Algeria, where policy has for long been geared to developing local skills and reducing dependence on foreign technical assistance.
