Algeria and Nigeria are engaged in an energy megaproject which consists of the construction of the Trans-Saharan Gas-Pipeline (TSGP) 4128 km long, intended to supply Europe.
Algeria and Nigeria are deepening their discussions for new investment opportunities. A large delegation from the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studie (NIPSS), which serves as a center for advice and training for not only Nigeria but also all of West Africa, is since yesterday in Algeria for a mission that will last until May 21. A week during which the Nigerian delegation will explore the Algerian market and examine the possibilities of partnership in various fields, ranging from agriculture to energy, including the pharmaceutical industry and petrochemicals.
Partnership agreements with Algerian research institutes are also to be studied. This delegation will have to visit about forty sites spread over eleven wilayas to have an order of magnitude of the economic capacities installed and possibly identify niches that can be used for common projects. Among the wilayas in which this delegation will go, there are Algiers, Oran, Laghouat, Timimoun, Ouargla, Constantine, Skikda, Sétif and Bejaia.
Increased exchanges
This visit confirms, to say the least, the desire displayed by the two capitals to further strengthen their bilateral cooperation in all areas, economic, scientific and security. Sharing the same political vision within the African Union, Algeria and Nigeria are working to consolidate their bilateral relations by creating new bridges with a view to concretizing African integration.
It is in this spirit that the two sides have intensified the visits of officials and the exchange of delegations over the past two years. In November 2022, the Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, visiting Algiers, expressed his country’s desire to give a boost to the development of bilateral relations. “Nigeria and Algeria have maintained very close relations for years, especially at the political level, and we would like our economic and commercial relationship to be on the same level as the political one,” said the head of Nigerian diplomacy.
Cooperation between the two countries has experienced a new dynamic in recent years, which has resulted in a substantial increase in trade, which has increased from 2 million dollars in 2021 to 100 million dollars in 2022. Algeria, like Nigeria, wants to raise the volume of these exchanges to the same level of excellence in politico-diplomatic relations.
It is for this reason that a bilateral agreement establishing an Algerian-Nigerian Business Council was signed in November 2022. The purpose of this business council is to “bring economic operators of the two countries closer together and ‘increase the volume of bilateral trade,’ said the Algerian Foreign Ministry during the signing ceremony which took place in Algiers.
The TSGP megaproject
The two countries are engaged in major partnership projects, particularly in the energy field where an agreement was reached on the construction of the Trans-Saharan Gas-Pipeline (TSGP) intended to supply Europe. A memorandum of understanding for the realization of a 4,128 km long megaproject was concluded in July 2022 between the Algerian, Nigerian and Nigerian Ministers of Energy. This gas pipeline, which will cost about 15 billion dollars, will bring Nigerian gas to Europe via Niger and Algeria.
In addition to European countries, the TSGP will also have to supply countries in the Sahel. Planned between the two countries in the early 1980s, this mega project of strategic significance for both countries was reactivated in a context marked by strong international demand for gas and oil, caused by the war in Ukraine.
Algiers and Abuja are also working to intensify intra-African economic and trade exchanges through the ZLECAF continental free trade area. Algeria currently exports refined petroleum, fertilizers, metals and agri-food products to Nigeria. These exports are expected to increase in the coming years to affect textiles and manufacturing and pharmaceutical products. The strengthening of economic cooperation with Nigeria is likely to facilitate Algeria’s access to the West African market.
