This marks the end of a diplomatic and energy illusion the Algerian regime has cherished for over forty years. The Nigeria-Algeria Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP), intended to link southern Nigeria to the Algerian coast via Niger, is now clinically dead. A strategic disaster that once again illustrates Algiers’ chronic inability to deliver a coherent regional vision in a Maghreb and Sahel undergoing profound geopolitical reconfiguration.
The Final Blow: Breakdown with the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)
The sudden withdrawal of ambassadors from Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso from Algiers represents a historic diplomatic humiliation for the Algerian regime. Triggered by rising tensions following an attack on a Malian drone and Algeria’s closure of its airspace to Malian aircraft, the Alliance of Sahel States responded with unprecedented sanctions—closing their own airspaces to Algerian planes.
Within this explosive context, the Trans-Saharan pipeline is now officially dead. Without Niger—an essential geographic and logistical link—the project collapses under its own weight, burying decades of illusory energy diplomacy.
Terrorism, Sabotage, and Chaos: The Algerian Desert as the Only Horizon
On March 12th, yet another attack struck the Niger-Benin oil pipeline in the Dosso region of southwest Niger. This marks the tenth act of sabotage recorded since the beginning of the year, confirming a troubling trend: the Sahel is descending further into explosive insecurity. Ten attacks in less than four months—a staggering figure that underscores the complete inability of the region’s states—under blockade or cut off from Algeria—to secure energy infrastructure.
But how can Algiers, which already fails to secure its own borders, possibly protect a 4,000-kilometer pipeline running through territories infested with armed groups affiliated with ISIS and Al-Qaeda? The dream has turned into a nightmare, and the TSGP has become an empty shell no one takes seriously anymore.
Meanwhile, Morocco Moves Forward: Structured, Supported, and Respected
In stark contrast to Algeria’s desert of failure, Morocco’s Atlantic Africa Gas Pipeline (AAGP) is increasingly emerging as the only viable option to transport Nigerian gas to Europe. This pipeline, following the West African coastline, crosses politically stable countries—all strategic partners of the Kingdom.
The Moroccan project enjoys active support from ECOWAS, the European Union, the World Bank, and several major global powers. Where the Algerian initiative is declared stillborn, the AAGP shines through its coherence, viability, and continental ambition.
An Increasingly Isolated Algerian Regime, Reduced to Hostile Posturing
Algeria’s ambition to dominate the European gas market now crashes against the wall of unprecedented diplomatic isolation—worsened by a rhetoric that grows more paranoid and hostile by the day. In pretending to play the role of grand strategist, the Algerian military junta has merely revealed its amateurism, divisive maneuvering, obsessive hatred of Morocco… and its complete failure to embody any form of African leadership.
Today, the TSGP is going up in flames. The Sahel turns its back on an Algeria that has trapped itself in the prison of its own megalomania.
Abderrazzak Boussaid / Le7tv