With historic deployment in Niger, Algeria eyes regaining Sahel influence

Algeria's rare move to send troops to Niger -- a first foreign deployment in over 50 years -- reflects a new vision to regain influence in the Sahel, where shifting alliances had disempowered its once-dominant position.

Here's what we know about the deployment and what it means for both Algiers and the Sahel.

Why mend fences with Niger?

Niger, which forms the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) confederation with Mali and Burkina Faso, has emerged as Algeria's gateway to rebuild influence in the region following strained relations.

Ties between Algiers and the AES countries abruptly deteriorated after Algeria downed last year a drone from Mali, triggering a diplomatic row with the recall of ambassadors.

Meanwhile, Mali was moving closer to Morocco -- Algeria's regional foe -- and backed Rabat's autonomy plan for Western Sahara, where Algiers supports the pro-independence Polisario Front.

But since the start of this year, Algiers has ramped up efforts to repair relations with the Sahel nations.

Most notably, it has supplied Niger with a power plant, invested in its oil sector and donated warplanes, while reviving plans for a massive trans-Saharan pipeline to carry gas from Nigeria to Europe.

A multi-dimensional rapprochement?

Since the rift, Algeria has moved closer to Mali and Burkina Faso as well, but its rapprochement to Niger is key as it serves important commercial and security interests.

"Commercially and geopolitically, Niger is crucial to Algeria for the trans-Saharan gas pipeline to counter the Nigeria-Morocco Atlantic pipeline," said Rida Lyammouri, a researcher at Morocco's Policy Center for the New South.

Morocco's proposed Atlantic pipeline, set to run along West Africa's coast to reach Europe, has received financial backing from the United Arab Emirates, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG).

A rapprochement with Niger comes as "a direct response to Emirati meddling" in the Sahel, said Geoff Porter, an analyst with the North Africa Risk Consulting group.

In an interview in July, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune lashed out against Abu Dhabi, saying "wherever they set foot, blood flows", and cited interference in Mali, Libya and Sudan.

Additionally, according to the ICG, Algeria has grown "increasingly concerned" by Libya's UAE-backed military leader Khalifa Haftar, whose "forces have tightened their grip on lucrative trafficking routes" near Niger and Chad.

"Growing competition from regional actors such as Morocco and Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army has also contributed to Algiers' push to regain its past position," said Charlie Werb, an analyst with the Alderaban Threat Consultants group.

Algiers "has a desire to protect the strategic trans-Saharan gas pipeline and other recent investments in Niger," he said.

Why the deployment of Algerian troops?

Last week, the Algerian parliament greenlit the deployment of troops in Niger "to protect energy facilities", though the mission's size and duration remain undisclosed.

Algerian media say the troops would safeguard state-owned Sonatrach "investments" as well as energy infrastructure in Niger, including in Kafra near the Algerian border.

But other reports have indicated that authorities in Niamey were looking to house the troops in a base in Madama, a desert area closer to Libya and Chad than to Algeria.

Algeria last deployed troops overseas in 1973 when it supported Egypt during the Arab-Israeli war, but having its own base outside its territory would mark a historic first.

"Madama is absolutely critical for Sahel intelligence gathering," said Porter, adding that the troops "would be positioned to gather intelligence on weapons flows and potentially interdict them".

On the other hand, the deployment could advantage Western partners and particularly the United States, which "remains concerned by the Sahel's trajectory but has lacked the footprint to monitor it closely since withdrawing from Niger in 2024", said Werb.

And for Niger, Werb added, Algeria's presence would consolidate military leader Abdourahamane Tiani, who has run the country since a July 2023 coup but who saw a mutiny in August shake his grip on power.

Following the thwarted mutiny, Algeria was prompt to send Niamey four warplanes.

A thaw with Mali as well?

Algeria and Mali have been seeking to move past the diplomatic crisis triggered by the drone incident in April 2025, officially resuming relations in July.

Mali's junta leader General Assimi Goita is expected to visit Algeria in the coming weeks, after the two countries' prime ministers have also exchanged visits to Algiers and Bamako.

Another sign of a thaw came earlier this month, when Malian forces seized the strategic northern city of Kidal from rebel forces with mediation from Algiers, according to diplomatic sources and analysts.

Liam Karr, an analyst at the US-based American Enterprise Institute, said there was "evidence that Algeria has reversed its previous stance on Malian military activity in northern Mali".

Algiers has now "indirectly supported Malian efforts to retake Kidal and increase military pressure on insurgent havens in northern Mali near the Algerian border", Karr said.