Algeria offers its ports to landlocked Sahel countries
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Maghreb Emergent
Algeria is proposing that landlocked Sahel countries use its ports to transport their goods, aiming to reduce transport and transit costs. The proposal, put forward by Sifi Ghrieb at the Russia-Africa summit in Moscow, faces limitations at several Algerian ports, notably their draught and rail links, reports Maghreb Emergent.
Algeria is proposing to make its seaports available to landlocked Sahel countries so their goods can be transported along the Algerian coast before being sent to their destination, Prime Minister Sifi Ghrieb said in Moscow on behalf of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. Algiers presents the offer as a way to facilitate trade and reduce transport and transit costs.
The proposal includes unloading goods at Algerian ports and then transporting them by train, an arrangement Abdelmadjid Tebboune had mentioned in September 2025. Algeria links the initiative to its projects towards the Sahel, including the Trans-Saharan Highway, the fibre-optic link and the Trans-Saharan gas pipeline, as well as power plants already operating in Niger and under construction in Chad.
However, the capacity of Algerian ports remains limited by several ports’ location in urban areas, their shallow draughts and insufficient rail connections, reports Algérie-Éco. No Algerian port can currently accommodate the largest container ships. Nevertheless, Interior and Transport Minister Saïd Sayoud says the country’s ten ports operate continuously, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Sifi Ghrieb is speaking as he represents Abdelmadjid Tebboune at the Russia-Africa summits. According to the timeline put forward by the Algerian president in September 2025, the ports could become transit points for landlocked countries by 2030 or 2031.
