How Algerian billionaire Issad Rebrab's $400 million steelworks gamble in Italy collapsed and took his Brazil iron ore dream down with it
Billionaires Africa | 26.04.2026 16:05
Issad Rebrab had a plan to make Cevital a global industrial force, not just Algeria's biggest private company. Between 2015 and 2018, he staked that ambition on 2 projects: a failing steelworks in Piombino, Italy and a giant iron ore complex deep in Brazil's Para state. Neither one survived. Together, they represent the most expensive failed bet in Algerian corporate history, and the story of why they collapsed says as much about Algeria's financial system as it does about Rebrab himself, Vipresse reported April 23.
