Landlocked Niger Adds Algeria Fiber Route to Reduce Digital Isolation
October 7th 2026
- Niger is opening a new fiber route through Algeria, giving the landlocked country another path to international Internet infrastructure.
- The Algeria link is part of a wider backbone connecting Niger to several neighboring countries, reducing reliance on any single cross-border corridor.
- The added route strengthens network resilience by giving Niger more options if another international connection is disrupted.
Niger was set to officially launch a fiber-optic link with Algeria on Monday, October 5, giving the landlocked country another route to international networks as it works to diversify its cross-border connectivity.
According to Agence Nigérienne de Presse (ANP), Niger’s state news agency, Communications and Information Technology Minister Hamani Kargné traveled to Agadez to lead the official launch of the Niger-Algeria fiber link in Assamaka, on the Algerian border.
The connection links northern Niger with Algeria through the Agadez-Assamaka corridor. 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.
Another International Route for Niger
Under the Niger component of the Trans-Saharan Fiber Optic Backbone, a 1,031-km national and cross-border fiber network has been built along five routes reaching the borders with Algeria, Chad, Nigeria, Benin and Burkina Faso. The project also includes an 88-km urban loop connecting major government sites to a planned Tier III national data center.
The fiber sections were provisionally accepted on November 14, 2025, after construction was completed. At the time, the African Development Bank said their commissioning would mark one of the final steps toward making the infrastructure fully operational.
The connection with Algeria adds another international route for Niger, which has no direct access to submarine cables. Algeria connects to the global Internet through several submarine and terrestrial links. Its equipped international telecommunications capacity reached 9.8 Tbit/s in 2024, up from 7.8 Tbit/s in 2022, according to Algeria’s Ministry of Post and Telecommunications.
Algeria is also adding the Medusa submarine cable to its international infrastructure. The cable, with landing points in Algiers and Collo, is scheduled to enter service in early 2027, according to Algerian authorities.
Niger already has other routes toward international submarine infrastructure. Its southern connection through Benin provides access to a country served by three submarine cable systems: SAT-3, Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) and WEST AFRICA. Benin’s telecommunications regulator said the three systems had combined installed capacity of about 580 Gbit/s at the end of 2024.
Nigeria also hosts several submarine cable systems, including MainOne, Glo-1, SAT-3, ACE, the West Africa Cable System, the Nigeria-Cameroon Submarine Cable System, Equiano and 2Africa. These systems provide international capacity that can be carried onward over terrestrial networks.
Diversification Strengthens Network Resilience
The new Algeria link expands the number of cross-border routes available to Niger for international connectivity. That diversification is particularly important for landlocked countries, whose Internet traffic relies on terrestrial infrastructure crossing neighboring states before reaching submarine cable landing points.
Chad illustrates the risks associated with limited international routes. In August 2024, a double fiber cut affecting Camtel infrastructure in Cameroon caused a major Internet outage in Chad. At the time, Chad’s other international link through Sudan had been unavailable since May 27, 2024 because of the conflict there.
Niger’s Trans-Saharan Backbone is designed to address that vulnerability by providing connections toward several neighboring countries rather than relying on a single international corridor. The launch of the Algeria link brings one of those planned cross-border connections into operation and gives Niger an additional route north toward Algeria’s international telecommunications infrastructure.
Back