Algeria’s president expected to win second term as voters go to polls

Algerian president and candidate for re-election Abdelmajid Tebboune delivers a speech during his election campaign (AP)

Algerians head to the polls on Saturday to cast votes for president and determine who will govern their gas-rich North African nation, five years after pro-democracy protests prompted the military to oust the previous president after two decades in power.

Algeria is Africa’s largest country by area and, with almost 45 million people, it is the continent’s second most populous after South Africa to hold presidential elections in 2024 — a year in which more than 50 elections are being held worldwide, encompassing more than half the world’s population.