Cotonou deal room puts Algeria’s african economic ambitions to the test
A multisector Algerian delegation took part in the Benin Deal Room 2026, held in Cotonou from 16 to 18 September, in a clear push by Algiers to turn its african presence into concrete economic partnerships. Pharmaceuticals, energy, infrastructure and state-owned enterprises topped the agenda. Yet behind the Beninese opportunity lies a tougher regional equation: how can South-South trade be intensified when borders remain shut at the very heart of West Africa? The frontier between Niger and Benin, still closed despite attempts at rapprochement, stands as one of the sharpest paradoxes facing any ambition of a more self-reliant african economic integration.
Cotonou becomes a marketplace for african investment ambitions
For three days, Cotonou turned into a trading floor for investors eyeing Benin’s growth prospects. Organised under the auspices of the Beninese government, the Benin Deal Room 2026 brought together institutional investors, development finance institutions, project promoters, strategic companies and public officials around a pipeline of more than twenty projects.
Announced financing needs range between 2 and 3 billion dollars, spanning sectors as varied as agro-industry, manufacturing, infrastructure, logistics and energy. The stated goal is not that of a simple economic forum: it is to connect capital directly with projects deemed mature enough to result in concrete transactions.
That logic is precisely what gives the Algerian presence its weight. A national multisector delegation, including representatives from the pharmaceutical industry, energy and renewables, as well as heads of public groups — among them the CEO of Saidal and the head of the Algerian company for electrical and gas industries (SAIEG), a Sonelgaz subsidiary — took part in the proceedings.
For Algiers, the stake goes beyond ceremonial representation. It is about identifying markets, forging industrial alliances and building partnerships capable of anchoring Algerian firms durably in West Africa.
From political diplomacy to economic diplomacy
This approach reflects a significant shift in Algeria’s african policy. After long favouring political, diplomatic and security cooperation, Algiers now seeks to strengthen the economic dimension of its presence on the continent.
The Beninese context lends itself particularly well to that goal. The country intends to speed up its industrialisation and leverage its geographical position, notably through the port of Cotonou and the Glo-Djigbé industrial zone, in order to develop local processing, logistics and regional value chains.
For Algerian companies, this dynamic can open up outlets in several fields.
Medicines form a first axis. The know-how built up by Algeria’s pharmaceutical industry can find extensions in West Africa through exports, distribution and, in time, local production and technology transfers.
Electricity is another strategic sector. The expertise of Sonelgaz and its subsidiaries in generation, transmission, distribution and energy solutions can meet the needs of a continent facing a substantial energy access deficit. Renewables also open a vast field of cooperation, especially in Sahelian territories where solar power can be a major electrification lever.
The challenge is thus to move from a classic commercial relationship — selling Algerian products to african customers — towards a more ambitious logic: producing, investing, training and transferring skills in Africa.
The Niger paradox: cooperating without moving
But this ambition collides with a geopolitical reality that goes beyond relations between Algiers and Cotonou.
Niger is today one of Algeria’s strategic partners. The two countries have strengthened their cooperation in security, transport and energy. In June 2026, Algeria notably launched works on its section of the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, a project meant to link Nigeria to Europe via Niger and Algeria.
In August, energy cooperation was further illustrated by the start of drilling on the Kafra oil block in northern Niger by Sonatrach, in the presence of the Algerian and Nigerien prime ministers. The project is presented as likely to foster, in time, road infrastructure, logistics, energy and trade between southern Algeria and the Agadez region.
On the security front, Algiers also went as far as providing military support to Niger in August 2026, at the request of the authorities in Niamey.
And yet, a few hundred kilometres further west, the border between Niger and Benin remains closed.
This closure, inherited from the crisis triggered by the July 2023 coup, now stands as one of the main contradictions of regional integration. Talks begun in 2026 between Cotonou and Niamey have produced progress on security, transit and some economic and legal aspects, but no firm reopening timetable had been confirmed by late September.
For Niamey, security concerns remain central. But the situation carries an economic cost: goods bound for Niger from the port of Cotonou must take alternative routes, with extra delays and expenses.
A closed border at the heart of an integration ambition
The Niger-Benin case therefore raises a fundamental question: can South-South cooperation truly be spoken of without fluid borders, transport and trade?
The paradox is all the more striking given that Benin and Niger have an interest in preserving their economic ties. Cotonou has historically been an important maritime outlet for the landlocked countries of the West african hinterland. For Niger, access to Beninese port infrastructure is a key element of its supply.
The border closure thus turns a bilateral problem into a regional issue. It weakens logistics chains, drives up transport costs and reduces companies’ ability to think of their markets across several countries.
For Algeria, which precisely wants to increase its trade with Africa, this situation is a warning. The geographical diversification of exports cannot be separated from the building of secure and functional corridors.
Algeria holds a major asset: its geographical depth. The development of trans-Saharan routes, the Algiers-Lagos road and the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline can help bring North Africa closer to West Africa. But these infrastructures will only deliver their full effect if they operate within a regional environment that allows the regular movement of goods, capital and skills.
Towards a new generation of South-South partnerships
The Algerian presence at the Benin Deal Room 2026 thus takes on a broader dimension. It reflects a desire to build african cooperation based less on declarations than on identifiable projects, investments and shared economic interests.
This is probably where the real stake of South-South cooperation lies. It is no longer only about african countries trading more with one another, but about jointly building african value chains: producing medicines in Africa, developing electrical equipment in Africa, processing raw materials on the continent, financing african infrastructure and creating african jobs.
Benin wants to attract capital. Algeria is looking for new markets and wants to showcase its industrial capacities. Niger holds considerable energy and mining resources and forms a strategic space between North and West Africa. These interests could be complementary.
But economic complementarity requires a precondition: political trust.
The gradual reopening of borders, particularly between Niger and Benin, would in this respect be more than a bilateral gesture. It would send a signal in favour of an Africa capable of overcoming its political divides to prioritise shared economic interests.
Algeria at its african crossroads
By taking part in the Cotonou gathering, Algiers appears to have chosen to stop seeing the african market as a simple natural extension of its exports, and to treat it instead as a strategic space for investment and partnership.
The challenge now will be to turn contacts made in the Deal Rooms into contracts, industrial facilities and lasting projects.
Benin can be a gateway. Niger can be a strategic corridor. The Sahel can become a space of complementarities. But without movement, without interconnected infrastructure and without political stability, ambitions will remain fragmented.
The message from Cotonou is therefore twofold: Africa now attracts african capital itself; the remaining task is to ensure that borders do not become the limits of that new ambition.