Algeria promotes new port plan amid rivalry with Morocco

ALGIERS, Algeria (MNTV) — President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced plans to transform Algeria’s ports into “express routes” for landlocked African nations, presenting the move as a strategy to expand regional trade and connectivity.

The declaration was made during the 4th Intra-African Trade Fair in Algiers, where Tebboune highlighted Algeria’s intention to position itself as a continental trade hub. 

However, analysts suggest the initiative is less a structured development plan and more a response to Morocco’s advancing Atlantic Initiative.

Unveiled in November 2023, Morocco’s Atlantic Initiative has already gained significant traction, offering Sahel countries such as Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Chad direct access to the Atlantic Ocean. 

At its center is the Dakhla Atlantique port, a mega-infrastructure project scheduled to open in 2028, which will connect to the Sahel through a 2,200-kilometer corridor linking Morocco’s established ports of Tangier and Casablanca.

The project has received strong backing from the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which reaffirmed its commitment at a summit in Rabat last April. 

Morocco’s longstanding investments across the region in banking, agriculture, and infrastructure further strengthen its position as a partner of choice for Sahel economies.

By contrast, Algeria’s proposal has yet to present clear financing, timelines, or partnerships. Strained ties with some Sahelian countries, particularly Mali, raise doubts over its feasibility. 

While Tebboune’s pledge has drawn domestic approval, observers caution that without concrete investments, the initiative risks being seen as a political maneuver driven more by competition with Morocco than by a substantive commitment to African development.