Algeria, Niger, Nigeria ink deal to build trans-Saharan gas pipeline

Algeria, Niger and Nigeria signed on Thursday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the construction of a gas pipeline across the Sahara Desert that will supply Europe with additional gas, said the Algerian energy minister.

The signing ceremony was held in Algiers, the capital of Algeria, in the presence of the energy ministers of the three African countries, and came in the wake of a trilateral meeting on the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP), Xinhua reports.

"Today's meeting follows two previous meetings respectively in Niamey in February and in Abuja in June," Algerian Minister of Energy and Mines Mohamed Arkab told reporters.

"We have taken a number of decisions and we are making remarkable advances in the construction of this strategic project," he said.

The TSGP, a mega gas pipeline project linking Algeria, Niger, and Nigeria, is expected to span 4,000 km and could send up to 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.