Africa’s second-strongest military approves first foreign troop deployment in 53 years to protect $13 billion energy interests in Russia-backed Niger

Algerian lawmakers approved the deployment on October 25, 2026, although authorities have yet to disclose the number of troops involved or when the mission will begin.

The decision marks Algeria’s first overseas military deployment since supporting Egypt in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

Algerian Senator Belkacem Boulghiti said the troops would be deployed “to protect Algeria’s economic and strategic interests, particularly its oil facilities in Niger.”

“We are not sending our soldiers to wage war in Niger, but for a mission to secure economic infrastructure,” he told reporters after the parliamentary vote.

“It is simply an adaptation of our doctrine to evolving circumstances so we can rise to the new challenges imposed by the situation in the Sahel region.”

Algeria’s state-owned energy company Sonatrach has investments in Niger, including its involvement in the proposed $13 billion Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, which would transport Nigerian natural gas through Niger to Algeria for export to European markets, including Italy.

Parliament’s approval follows a visit by Nigerien Defence Minister General Salifou Mody to Algeria last week, during which he met President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and army chief General Said Chanegriha.

Both countries subsequently signed a military cooperation agreement, although its terms remain undisclosed.

Niger has also strengthened military ties with Moscow, receiving Russian equipment, air defence systems and training assistance as its military-led government reduces reliance on Western security partners.

As part of its intervention during the same month, Algiers also deployed four Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets and an aerial refuelling aircraft following an attempted mutiny against Niger’s military government.

President Tebboune confirmed the intervention in October, while Algeria’s Defence Ministry said the aircraft had been dispatched at Nigerien authorities’ request on “a mission to support the Nigerien army in confronting an attempt to destabilise the brotherly state of Niger”.