Paris’s “Sudanese scenario” in Niger foiled as Algeria activates air deterrence Copy link

Algeria Gate: Only a few hours after a high-level delegation from the Republic of Niger left Algeria, the hornet’s nest stirred. Algeria has taken concrete steps toward the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, which will carry Nigerian gas through Niger to Algerian territory and then to Europe. This project marks a major victory for Algeria: it strengthens the country’s energy security and supports regional economic integration and continental cooperation. Those who stirred the nest are trying in vain to scramble the pieces, redraw the regional map, and disrupt this strategic continental project.

The peak of the unprecedented strategic rapprochement and economic dynamism along the Niamey–Algiers axis appears to have caused unusual confusion and irritation within the France–Morocco–UAE axis. This axis does not see the project merely as an economic competitor, but as a geopolitical shift that threatens entrenched interests. Foremost among them are the illusory Atlantic alternative route led by Rabat with Emirati support, and the eroding French influence in the Sahel following the rupture with Niger.

What occurred in Niamey cannot be read as an isolated security incident. Explosions in the early hours of Saturday morning in several areas of the capital Niamey, in a failed attempt to target sensitive sites in Niger, raise many questions given their timing, which coincides with the striking acceleration of Algerian–Nigerien cooperation. Every tangible advance along this axis is liable to activate forces harmed by the reordering of the balance of power in the region.

Completing the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline project will turn it into a sovereign African energy corridor—the very core of the battle that the forces of evil seek to win and obstruct before the project is completed and becomes entrenched as a new strategic reality in the region.

The authorities in Niger have explicitly held Paris responsible for standing behind the failed coup attempt, which they describe as an operation aimed at destabilizing the country and weakening its security and stability.

According to observers, the mounting pressures facing Algeria; stemming from its Mediterranean location, its reach into Africa, and its independent foreign policy, are part of a larger contest for control of the Sahel, key trade and energy routes, and regional influence. Algeria has emerged as a pivotal player in any effort to reshape the maps of commerce and power in the area, especially given its resolve to turn its geography into an asset: converting what was once merely a dividing line between North Africa and the Sahel into a strategic bridge linking Africa to the Mediterranean through infrastructure, roads, ports, and trans-Saharan energy and trade corridors.

On the other hand, the Moroccan project; which was aborted before completion, has intensified Rabat’s determination to target the Algerian project by every means, especially since the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline is advancing with practical steps while the Moroccan–Nigerian project faces increasing obstacles and challenges.

Nigerian energy expert Dan Conley had previously warned Nigerian President Bola Tinubu of the risks associated with the Nigeria–Morocco gas pipeline project, calling for the suspension of any additional commitments regarding the project, estimated at around $25 billion, before it turns into an “economic disaster.”

Conley also warned that the Nigerian–Moroccan gas pipeline project faces major challenges, noting that the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline differs from it in structure; it involves only three countries: Nigeria, Niger, and Algeria. Whereas the Atlantic African gas pipeline project passes through or links more than a dozen West African countries, each with different regulatory systems, financial regimes, political landscapes, and interests.

Thus the battle is not merely about a gas pipeline, but about a broader struggle over who holds the keys to energy, trade, and the corridors linking Africa to the Mediterranean, and who possesses the capacity to turn geographic position into long-term economic and sovereign influence.

Algeria Gate: The Nigerien capital, Niamey, witnessed an armed military movement inside Base 101, which included the detention of personnel and gunfire targeting sensitive sites in the capital, before defense and security forces intervened to contain the movement.

In an official statement, the Nigerien Ministry of National Defense explained that a group of soldiers “violated military order and discipline,” detained a number of their colleagues inside the Base 101 barracks, and opened fire on some sensitive sites in Niamey.

The ministry confirmed that the rapid response of the defense and security forces made it possible to surround the movement and gradually regain control of the targeted sites, calling on the population to maintain calm and continue their activities normally.

These developments come hours after gunfire and explosions around military and security sites in the capital, including the vicinity of the presidential palace and Diori Hamani Airport, amid a deployment of security forces. State television RTN also suspended broadcasting for a period during the disturbances before resuming transmission.

Thus, the attempt to seize power in Niger failed after the rebel group was unable to take control of the presidential palace or state institutions, while Nigerien security and defense forces continued to secure the capital and pursue those involved in the rebellion.

Algeria Gate: Algeria has followed with the utmost attention the unfortunate and strongly condemned events that occurred today in the Nigerien capital, Niamey, affirming its full solidarity with the Republic of Niger and its steadfast support for it, according to what the Algerian Foreign Ministry stated.

The statement said: “Algeria has followed with the utmost attention the unfortunate and strongly condemned events that occurred today in the Nigerien capital, Niamey.”

The Algerian Foreign Ministry clarified that as soon as it became aware of these events, “Algeria affirmed to the highest authorities of the Republic of Niger its full solidarity and steadfast support so as to enable them to overcome this ordeal and work for the rapid return of stability to this brotherly country.”

Algeria renewed “its strong condemnation of such acts that could undermine the legitimate aspirations of the brotherly Nigerien people toward tranquility and development.”