A multisectoral Algerian delegation took part in the Benin Deal Room 2026, held in Cotonou from 16 to 18 September, in a move that signals Algiers’ determination to convert its African presence into concrete economic partnerships. Pharmaceuticals, energy, infrastructure and state-owned enterprises formed the backbone of the mission. Yet behind Benin’s investment opening lies a tougher regional equation: how can South-South trade be deepened when borders remain shut in the very heart of West Africa? The frontier between Niger and Benin, still closed despite attempts at rapprochement, stands out as one of the sharpest paradoxes facing the push for a more self-reliant African economic integration.
Cotonou becomes a marketplace for African capital
For three days, Cotonou turned into a trading floor for investors eyeing Benin’s growth prospects. Organised under the aegis 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.
Financing needs were put at between 2 and 3 billion dollars, spanning sectors as varied as agro-industry, manufacturing, infrastructure, logistics and energy. The stated goal goes beyond a simple economic forum: it is about matching capital directly with projects mature enough to deliver concrete deals.
That logic is precisely what gives the Algerian presence its weight. A national multisectoral delegation, including representatives from the pharmaceutical industry, energy and renewables, as well as heads of public groups such as the CEO of Saidal and the head of the Algerian Electrical and Gas Industries Company (SAIEG), a Sonelgaz subsidiary, joined the proceedings.
For Algiers, the stakes go well beyond protocol. The aim is to identify markets, forge industrial alliances and bring about partnerships capable of anchoring Algerian firms durably in West Africa.
From political diplomacy to economic diplomacy
This orientation reflects a significant shift in Algeria’s Africa policy. After long favouring political, diplomatic and security cooperation, Algiers is now seeking to strengthen the economic dimension of its continental footprint.
The Beninese context is particularly receptive. The country intends to speed up industrialisation and leverage its geographic position, notably through the port of Cotonou and the Glo-Djigbé industrial zone, to develop local processing, logistics and regional value chains.
For Algerian companies, this momentum can open doors in several fields.
Pharmaceuticals form a first axis. Expertise built up by Algeria’s drug industry can be extended into West Africa through exports, distribution and, in time, local production and technology transfers.
Electricity is another strategic sector. The know-how of Sonelgaz and its subsidiaries in generation, transmission, distribution and energy solutions can meet the needs of a continent grappling with a major energy access deficit. Renewables also open a wide field of cooperation, especially in Sahelian territories where solar power can serve as a major electrification lever.
The challenge is to move from a classic commercial relationship — selling Algerian goods to African clients — towards a more ambitious model: 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 cooperation in security, transport and energy. In June 2026, Algeria launched work 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 on display again with 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 capable of eventually boosting road infrastructure, logistics, energy and trade between southern Algeria and the Agadez region.
On security, Algiers even 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 to the west, the border between Niger and Benin remains closed.
That closure, inherited from the crisis triggered by the July 2023 coup, now stands as one of the main contradictions of regional integration. Talks between Cotonou and Niamey in 2026 produced progress on security, transit and certain 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 exist without fluid borders, transport and trade?
The paradox is all the more striking because Benin and Niger have every interest in preserving their economic ties. Cotonou has historically been a key maritime outlet for the landlocked countries of the West African hinterland. For Niger, access to Beninese port infrastructure is an important part of its supply chain.
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 their markets across several countries.
For Algeria, which wants precisely to expand its trade with Africa, this situation is a warning. Geographic diversification of exports cannot be separated from building secure, functional corridors.
Algeria holds a major asset: its geographic depth. The development of trans-Saharan axes, 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.
That is probably where the real stake of South-South cooperation lies. It is no longer just about African countries trading more with each other, but about building African value chains together: 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 be more than a bilateral gesture. It would send a signal in favour of an Africa able to move past its political divides and prioritise shared economic interests.
Algeria at its African crossroads
By taking part in the Cotonou gathering, Algiers appears to have chosen to stop viewing 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 this new ambition.