Trans-Sahara highway upgrade project complete

Work has now been completed on Algeria’s upgrade of its 1,600km of the Trans-Sahara highway route. The highway connects Algeria and Tunisia in North Africa with Chad, Mali, Niger and Nigeria lying to the south. The highway provides an important trade route from North Africa to West Africa but is notoriously dangerous due primarily to the severe climate and difficult conditions. The route measures around 4,500km in all from Algiers to Lagos and running through Algeria, Niger and Nigeria but the link also includes an additional 3,600km of roads that link Chad, Mali and Tunisia.

The stretch of the highway in Southern Niger has been paved for many years but the section of the route in the north of the country has long been one of the most inhospitable environments for road transport in the world. Although the 1,200km of the route in Nigeria from the border with Niger to Lago in the south is already paved, it has suffered from poor maintenance over many years.

The Trans-Sahara Highway is an important route for trade and with Mali and Niger being two of the world’s poorest countries, it is vital for economic development across the region. Funding for the upgrade of the route has been provided by a number of sources including the European Union, the Arab Bank for Economic Development, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the African Development Bank.