Youcef Yousfi ( ar, يوسف اليوسفي) (born 2 October 1941) is an Algerian politician who has been Minister of Energy and Mines between 2010 and 2015. He briefly served as Acting Prime Minister of Algeria in March–April 2014. Yousfi was Algeria's Permanent Representative to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

from 2006 to 2008.

Early life and education

Born in

Batna Batna or BATNA may refer to: *Batna (city), Algeria *Batna Province, Algeria *Best alternative to a negotiated agreement In negotiation theory, the best alternative to a negotiated agreement or BATNA (no deal option) refers to the most advantageou ...

, Yousfi graduated from the ''

École nationale supérieure des industries chimiques École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

'' (National School of

Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

) in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and obtained a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

from the '' Université de Nancy''. He also has a degree in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

Career

Yousfi was a senior

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

, then a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

at the National Polytechnic School, and then the Houari Boumediene University of Sciences and Technologies, both in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

. He was also director of the chemistry institute there. He was also an oil adviser at the Ministry of Industry and Energy. In the late 1970s, Yousfi was appointed as marketing vice-president at

Sonatrach Sonatrach ( ar, سوناطراك; french: Société Nationale pour la Recherche, la Production, le Transport, la Transformation, et la Commercialisation des Hydrocarbures) is the national state-owned oil company of Algeria. Founded in 1963, it is ...

, and in 1985, he became its

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

. In 1996, he became

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

to Algerian President,

Liamine Zéroual Liamine Zéroual ( ar, اليمين زروال ALA-LC: ''al-Yamīn Zarwāl''; Berber: Lyamin Ẓerwal; born 3 July 1941) is an Algerian politician who was the sixth President of Algeria from 31 January 1994 to 27 April 1999. Biography He was bor ...

. In 1997, he was appointed as Minister of Oil and Energy and was also first elected as a member of the

People's National Assembly The People's National Assembly ( ar, المجلس الشعبي الوطني, al-Majlis al-Sha'abi al-Watani; ber, Asqamu Aɣerfan Aɣelnaw; french: Assemblée populaire nationale), abbreviated APN, is the lower house of the Algerian Parliament ...

. In early 1999, Yousfi became president of the

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC, ) is a cartel of countries. Founded on 14 September 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela), it has, since 1965, been headquart ...

(OPEC). On 23 December 1999 he was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was replaced by Abdelaziz Belkhadem in the post in August 2000, when Yousfi moved on to become Minister-Delegate to Prime Minister,

Ali Benflis Ali Benflis ( ar, على بن فليس ; born 8 September 1944) is an Algerian politician who was Head of Government of Algeria from 2000 to 2004. In 2003, he became the general secretary of the National Liberation Front party. Benflis was a ca ...

. In April 2001, Yousfi was nominated as Ambassador of Algeria to Canada, before becoming Permanent Representative to the

in 2006. On 1 July 2020, he was sentenced to 3 years in prison on corruption charges.

Personal life

Yousfi is married and has three children.

References

External links

BiographyAlgerian News – Yousfi presents his credentials
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yousfi, Youcef 1941 births Algerian Ministers of Energy and Mines Ambassadors of Algeria to Canada Foreign ministers of Algeria Government ministers of Algeria Living people Members of the People's National Assembly Nancy-Université alumni OPEC people People from Batna, Algeria Permanent Representatives of Algeria to the United Nations Heads of government who were later imprisoned 21st-century Algerian people