• Niger installs 1,031 km of fiber across five national corridors
• Project aims to connect with Benin, Nigeria, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Algeria
• Authorities expect better service quality, wider access, and lower costs

Niger has completed all sections of its component of the Trans-Saharan Fiber Optic Backbone. A provisional handover ceremony was held on Friday, November 14, 2025, marking a key step toward future interconnections with neighbors such as Benin, Nigeria, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Algeria.

A total of 1,031 km of fiber optic cable has been installed across five routes: Arlit–Assamaka–Algerian border (220 km), Diffa–N’Guigmi–Chadian border (186 km), Zinder–Magaria–Nigerian border (117 km), Niamey–Dosso–Gaya–Benin border (300 km), and Niamey–Makalondi–Burkina Faso border (118 km).

“This backbone is a crucial tool for reducing Niger’s digital isolation. It helps narrow geographic and connectivity gaps in remote areas. It also supports economic development by providing a solid base for digital services, including e-commerce, mobile financial services, and e-government,” said Adji Ali Salatou, Minister of Communication and New Information Technologies.

As a landlocked country, Niger has no direct access to the submarine cables that provide international connectivity. The backbone will allow it to connect to several neighbors with major landing points, giving access to more diverse and resilient international capacity. Nigeria is linked to eight cables, Benin to three, and Algeria to five, with two more expected by 2026, according to Submarine Cable Map data from TeleGeography.

Chad, although landlocked, provides a route to coastal countries such as Cameroon and Sudan, each connected to five submarine cables, and to Libya, which has five and plans a sixth by 2026. Chad is also exploring an agreement with Egypt, a major digital hub with about twenty cables and seven more planned by 2028. Burkina Faso, also landlocked, provides access to Togo (three cables), Ghana (six cables), and Côte d’Ivoire (six cables).

Nigerien authorities say cross-border interconnections should improve service quality, expand ICT access, and reduce costs for users. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Internet penetration in Niger was 23.2% in 2023. The organization also reports that in 2024, mobile Internet costs represented 8.31% of gross national income per capita, compared with 61.1% for fixed Internet. By ITU standards, a service is considered affordable only when this ratio does not exceed 2%.

The timeline for full interconnection has not yet been confirmed and will depend on progress in each partner country. Nigerien and Chadian authorities met in June to discuss the technical requirements for the project, but no updates have been shared since. On the Benin side, the border between the two countries remains closed until further notice.