Optical & Fixed Networks

Link to Algeria expands connectivity options for Niger

Niger is opening a new route through Algeria. It’s an additional path to international internet infrastructure, and part of a wider backbone connecting Niger, which is landlocked, to several neighbouring countries.

The connection links northern Niger with Algeria through the Agadez-Assamaka corridor. 

As TechAfrica News says, the new infrastructure is part of broader efforts by Niger and Algeria to strengthen cooperation in telecommunications and expand digital infrastructure. The fibre optic link is expected to improve digital interconnection between the two countries and support the expansion of telecommunications networks.

The added route also strengthens network resilience for Niger by giving it more options if another international connection is disrupted. Niger has no direct access to submarine cables; Algeria connects to the global internet through several submarine and terrestrial links.

The launch ceremony was held on 6 October in Assamaka, on the Niger-Algeria border, and was jointly chaired by Niger’s Minister of Communication and New Information Technologies, Hamani Kargné, and Algeria’s Minister of Post and Telecommunications, Sid-Ali Zerrouki, along with other officials and representatives from relevant agencies in both countries.

The project forms part of broader telecommunications cooperation between the two countries and the Trans-Saharan Fiber Optic Backbone, a regional initiative designed to strengthen terrestrial telecommunications links between North Africa and the Sahel.

As news agency Ecofin explains, under the Niger component of the Trans-Saharan Fibre Optic Backbone, a 1,031-kilometre national and cross-border fibre network has been built along five routes reaching the borders with Algeria, Chad, Nigeria, Benin and Burkina Faso.

The project also includes an 88-kilometre urban loop connecting major government sites to a planned Tier III national data centre.

As well as the recently announced Algeria route, Niger also has routes to international submarine infrastructure through Benin, while Nigeria also hosts several submarine cable systems, which provide international capacity that can be carried onwards over terrestrial networks.



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