• Financing covers rail extension to El Meniaa and Ghardaïa over about 495 km
• Project is first phase of trans-Saharan rail corridor linking Algiers to the south
• Algeria aims to double rail network to 10,000 km by 2030

Algeria has secured financing of more than $3 billion from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to extend its national rail network toward El Meniaa and Ghardaïa, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said in an interview with Algerian media on February 8.

The funding, to be repaid over 13 years, will support one of the country’s major rail expansion projects in the northern part of the Sahara.

According to an AfDB note published in November 2025, the new railway line will span about 495 km. It represents the first phase of the trans-Saharan rail corridor, designed to link Algiers to Tamanrasset over a distance of about 2,000 km and to connect with Niger.

The corridor aims to open up Algeria’s southern regions, provide a new logistics route for Sahel countries, and facilitate the transport of mining resources from the Saharan region.

The AfDB said many Saharan mineral deposits, located nearly 2,000 km from ports, are currently constrained by costly and slow road transport. The development of the trans-Saharan railway, with freight trains operating at speeds of up to 220 km/h, is expected to make the extraction and local processing of these resources viable, while offering new logistics outlets for neighboring landlocked countries.

In line with its rail sector ambitions, Algeria plans to double its current network to 10,000 km by 2030, with a longer-term target of 15,000 km. Earlier this month, the country launched technical tests on the 950 km Gara Djebilet railway line, built to transport iron ore, general freight, and improve access to western localities.

Henoc Dossa