Self-entrepreneurship in light of Algerian law: Legislative stakes and implementation challenges

Authors

  • Chafi Mohamed Abdelbasset University of Abou Bekr Belkaid-Tlemcen, (Algeria), ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-1648-7110
  • Bouziane Aboubakr University of Belhadj Bouchaib- Ain Temouchent, (Algeria), Email: aboubakr.bouziane@univ-temouchent.edu.dz, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0412-3815
  • Assi Abdelkader University of Tissemsilt, (Algeria), Email: assiabdelkader7@gmail.com, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6740-813X
  • Melki Ali University of Tissemsilt, (Algeria), Email: alimelki117dj@gmail.com, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3794-8125
  • Adjout Abdelkader University of Hassiba Benbouali-Chlef, (Algeria), Email: adjaek@yahoo.fr, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2857-057X

Keywords:

self-employed entrepreneur, law 22-23, legislative stakes, implementation challenges, legislative gaps, parallel economy, entrepreneurship

Abstract

This study examines Algeria's self-employed entrepreneur legal system established under Law 22-23 (December 2022), revealing a profound gap between legislative ambitions and implementation reality. The legislator sought to create a system combining procedural flexibility with legal protection, aiming to rescue youth from unemployment, extract activities from the parallel economy into legality, and propel Algeria toward the digital economy era. However, reality reveals painful paradoxes: legislative texts suffer fundamental conceptual gaps, executive decrees remain delayed creating regulatory vacuums, contradictions with existing legislation destabilize legal security, and bureaucratic complexities undermine the simplification philosophy. The study concludes that rescuing this promising system requires courageous reform: comprehensive legislative amendments, accelerated regulatory issuance, genuine digitalization, and field accompaniment transforming entrepreneurs from registry numbers into productive economic actors, because true success is measured not by registrants' numbers but by those transformed from unemployed to wealth creators.

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References

I. Primary Sources

A. Constitution

Constitutional Amendment of 2020. (2020). Official Gazette of Algeria.

B. Laws

Basic Laws:

Law No. 22-23 of December 18, 2022, containing the basic law for self-employed entrepreneurs. (2022). Official Journal/Official Gazette, No. 85.

Law No. 24-22 of December 25, 2022, containing the Finance Law for 2023. (2022). Official Journal/Official Gazette, No. 89.

Law No. 02-17 of January 10, 2017, concerning the orientation law for development of small and medium enterprises. (2017). Official Journal/Official Gazette, No. 2.

Law No. 23-90 of August 18, 1990 related to the Commercial Register, amended and supplemented. (1990). Official Gazette of Algeria.

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Special Laws:

Algerian Civil Code. Code Civil Algérien.

Algerian Commercial Law. Code de Commerce Algérien.

Consumer Protection and Fraud Suppression Law. Loi relative à la protection du consommateur et à la répression des fraudes.

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Order No. 03-03 of July 19, 2003 related to competition. (2003). Official Gazette of Algeria.

D. Executive Decrees

Executive Decree No. 197-23 of May 25, 2023, determining the list of activities eligible to benefit from the basic law of the self-employed entrepreneur and modalities of registration in the national register of self-employed entrepreneurs. (2023). Official Journal/Official Gazette, No. 37.

Executive Decree No. 196-23 of May 25, 2023, specifying the organization and functioning of the National Agency for Self-Employed Entrepreneurs. (2023). Official Journal/Official Gazette, No. 37.

Executive Decree No. 198-23 of May 25, 2023, specifying the model of the self-employed entrepreneur card. (2023). Official Journal/Official Gazette, No. 37.

Executive Decree No. 254-20 of September 15, 2020, establishing the National Committee for granting "startup", "innovative project" and "business incubator" labels. (2020). Official Gazette, No. 55.

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Public session for discussing the draft law containing the Basic Law for the Self-Entrepreneur. (2022). Official Journal of Debates.

General principles of administrative law. Principes généraux du droit administratif.

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C. Theses and Dissertations

Dadi Hammou Ibrahim. (2022). Impact of cultural and social factors on entrepreneurial culture among Beni Mzab [Doctoral dissertation, University of Algiers 3].

D. Conference Proceedings

Koufi, S. (2011, November). Self-employment as an alternative solution to eliminate smart unemployment to achieve social sustainability. International Conference on Government Strategy in Eliminating Unemployment and Achieving Sustainable Development, M'sila University, Algeria.

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Published

12-10-2025

How to Cite

Abdelbasset, C. M., Aboubakr, B., Abdelkader, A., Ali, M., & Abdelkader, A. (2025). Self-entrepreneurship in light of Algerian law: Legislative stakes and implementation challenges. The International Tax Journal, 52(5), 2467–2494. Retrieved from https://internationaltaxjournal.online/index.php/itj/article/view/256

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Section

Online Access