Algeria sends troops to Niger to protect $25 billion in oil assets

Algeria’s People’s National Assembly ratified a proposal on Sunday to deploy military forces into neighboring Niger. The upper house, the Council of the Nation, had already approved the measure unanimously earlier that day.

The move marks a departure from Algeria’s long-standing doctrine of nonintervention, which has historically kept its armed forces within national borders. Details regarding the specific number of soldiers and their arrival timeline have not yet been released by officials.

Algerian authorities stated the deployment aims to safeguard economic and strategic interests, specifically oil installations owned by the state energy company Sonatrach. Senator Belkacem Boulghiti told reporters, “We are not sending our soldiers to wage war in Niger, but for a mission to secure economic infrastructure.”

The decision follows a period of improved diplomatic ties between Algiers and Niamey. Niger’s President Abdourahamane Tchiani visited Algeria in February, and his defense minister, Salifou Mody, traveled to Algiers later in the year to discuss security cooperation. These talks occurred after a diplomatic crisis in April when Algeria shot down a Malian drone, prompting Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso to recall their ambassadors.

Algeria is currently Africa’s largest military spender, with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute recording more than $25 billion in expenditures for the country’s armed forces in 2025. The deployment fits into a wider strategy to assert security interests in the Sahel region, where instability has risen since the 2011 collapse of Libya’s government.

The region has seen a shift in military alliances in recent years. France withdrew its troops from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger between 2022 and 2023. The United States pulled approximately 1,000 soldiers from Niger in 2024. Russia has filled part of the void, with about 100 personnel from the Africa Corps group arriving in Niamey in April 2024 to provide training and equipment.

A 2020 constitutional revision allows the Algerian president to authorize overseas deployments if at least two-thirds of parliament support the move. The upcoming deployment is intended to protect assets while Algeria deepens security cooperation in a region where three countries have experienced six military coups since 2012.