Tebboune brings up Morocco even when discussing Algeria
Wages, investment, foreign exchange reserves: Abdelmadjid Tebboune devoted his October 3 televised interview to a range of Algerian issues. But Morocco also featured, amid criticism of the Atlantic gas pipeline and remarks on the Sahara.
The Algerian president begins by defending the trans-Saharan gas pipeline, which is intended to carry gas from Nigeria to Europe via Niger and Algeria. He says his country has its own resources and will mainly serve as a transit route. He then turns to the rival project backed by Rabat and Abuja.
According to Tebboune, this corridor would cross 14 countries, each of which would take 5% of the gas, in addition to transit fees. “What will be left at the end? Nothing but hot air!” he says. The Algerian president cites these deductions to challenge the economic case for the Atlantic route.
The comparison allows him to present the Algerian route as the obvious choice. He announces that work will continue in his country and that teams will be sent to Niger to resume topographical surveys. The Moroccan project, meanwhile, is assessed in terms of what would be left for Europe, even though it is also intended to supply the African countries along the route.
From gas pipeline to the Sahara
Morocco then comes up in the diplomatic part of the interview. According to the transcript published by El Khabar, Tebboune refers to meetings in the United States focused on the Sahara. He presents Morocco and the Polisario as the parties to the conflict, while Algeria and Mauritania would be observer countries.
He reiterates Algiers’ support for the Polisario and says he will accept a decision accepted by the Sahrawis. In the same interview, the kingdom thus appears first as an energy competitor, then as the party to which Algiers refers when it comes to resolving the Sahara issue.
Morocco’s presence goes beyond the October 3 interview. In an interview with L’Opinion published in February 2025, Tebboune had already described relations with Morocco as “almost a game of chess”, portraying Algerian decisions as responses to actions it considered hostile.
The following month, when asked about French-Moroccan relations, he said they did not bother Algeria. He nevertheless criticized Rachida Dati and Gérard Larcher’s trips to the Sahara, which he called ostentatious.
On the energy front, the Atlantic project continues to seek funding. On October 5, Punch reported that commitments to the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline were among three investments covered by a 473.8 billion naira loan granted by NNPC to its gas subsidiary in 2025.
