Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Nigerien leader Abdourahamane Tiani agreed in Algiers on Monday to tighten strategic cooperation and revive plans for the long-discussed Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, a project aimed at moving Nigerian gas north through Niger to Algeria’s Mediterranean export terminals, as both governments look for economic upside and regional leverage after months of tension.
After talks in the Algerian capital, Tebboune said work on the roughly 4,100-kilometer project is expected to restart after Ramadan. The pipeline is designed to transport 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, linking Nigeria’s reserves to Algeria’s established export infrastructure and, by extension, European markets. The route has been stalled for years by insecurity in parts of the Sahel, financing hurdles, and periodic political turbulence across the transit corridor.
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Tiani’s two-day visit, which began Sunday, also carried a clear diplomatic message: the two countries are stepping back from a rupture that lasted about 10 months. Algeria and Niger restored full diplomatic ties on Feb. 12 after a dispute that flared in April 2025 when Algeria downed an armed drone near its southern border with Mali. While the drone was Malian, the incident drew in the Alliance of Sahel States—Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—prompting Niger to recall its ambassador in a gesture of solidarity.
Standing alongside Tebboune at a joint press conference, Tiani cast the renewed engagement as a forward-looking pivot in a region facing overlapping crises. “A new page in the history of the Sahel and Africa has opened,” Tiani said, framing the rapprochement as a practical move in the face of mounting security pressures and economic strain.
The meetings were not limited to gas. Tiani arrived with a senior delegation that included ministers responsible for defense, foreign affairs, and petroleum, and the agenda expanded into other strategic sectors. Officials discussed broader cooperation in mining and electricity—two areas where Niger’s resource base and Algeria’s industrial capacity could, in theory, complement each other if politics and security hold.
The timing also lands in a wider energy context: Europe has continued searching for diversified gas supplies since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine reshaped global energy flows, while North and West African producers have sought investment and stable transit routes. Whether the pipeline finally moves from ambition to steel in the ground will depend on security guarantees across the Sahel and sustained political alignment among all three key states—Nigeria, Niger, and Algeria.