Algeria’s National Agency for Design and Management of Djamaa el-Djazair (Anargema) has shortlisted three consortiums to bid for the contract to build an estimated $1.4bn mosque in Algiers.

Anargema received bids from contractors in July.

Bouabdallah Ghoulamallah, the religious affairs minister says the three shortlisted groups are:

• Italy’s Astaldi/Lebanon’s Arabian Construction Company
• Local  ETRHB Haddad/local Cosider Construction/Spain’s FCC
• China State Construction Engineering Corporation

The mosque will be based in Mohamadia, in the east of Algiers.

When complete, the Djamaa el-Djazair (Algiers Mosque) will have a capacity of almost 40,000 people and will include a 21,000 square-metre prayer room, a 21,000 sq m courtyard, a 42,000 sq m esplanade and a 214-metre high minaret.

The development will also include a two-building culture centre made up of a 16,000 sq m auditorium and a 21,800 sq m library. A 300-student graduate school and an 180,000 sq m car park complete the development.    

A consortium of German design consultants Krebs und Kiefer and KSP Engel und Zimmerman won a competition for the design of the development in 2008.