I've been following this in the FT and the guts of the thing...

I've been following this in the FT and the guts of the thing seems to be the repatriation of profits and employment of locals.

Yes, some 'companies' investing in Algeria and elsewhere don't have a record of employing locals. And we must bear in mind a few things - WMZ is employing locals and that the Chinese outbid WMZ/TZN on Ain Bougda.

So what? Well another thing, the Chinese are active elsewhere in Algeria and all over Africa. Their record for employing locals is not good - I've heard they even bring prisoners over from China for some projects to work (read 'slave') for no money. What kind of locals allow that? Corruption springs to mind. So if Algeria is trying to suppress corruption, we can expect moves that would put money in pockets of people other than those near the top.

In summary, imo Algeria does need to have this debate and it could augur well for Terramin. But damn, it is unsettling in the short term, yes.