Algeria, Niger Revive Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline

(MENAFN) Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Nigerien leader Abdourahamane Tiani pledged Monday to forge deeper strategic ties, formally relaunching the long-stalled Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline in a move that signals a decisive end to nearly ten months of diplomatic estrangement between the two nations.

Speaking following bilateral talks in Algiers, Tebboune confirmed that construction work on the ambitious 4,100-kilometer pipeline will resume after Ramadan. The project, once fully operational, is engineered to transport 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from Nigeria through Niger to Algeria's Mediterranean coast, where it would be exported onward to Europe. Long paralyzed by deteriorating security conditions and volatile political realignments across the Sahel, the pipeline has endured years of delays but remains a centerpiece of the region's energy development aspirations.

Tiani's two-day visit — which began Sunday — represents the most tangible sign yet of a warming relationship. Algeria and Niger formally restored full diplomatic relations on February 12, following a rupture that erupted in April 2025 after Algerian forces shot down an armed drone near the country's southern border with Mali. Though the drone was of Malian origin, the Alliance of Sahel States responded collectively, with Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso each recalling their ambassadors in a show of solidarity with Bamako.

"A new page in the history of the Sahel and Africa has opened," Tiani declared at a joint press conference, describing the renewed engagement as a pragmatic step to address growing security and economic challenges.

Talks extended well beyond energy, with Tiani's delegation — which included ministers of defense, foreign affairs, and petroleum — exploring expanded cooperation in mining and electricity as both nations look to consolidate their recalibrated partnership.

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