So we can all be driving Algiers-Lagos
who will go first?



https://www.aps.dz/economie/117548-r...-juin-prochain

https://www.fluxafrica.com/post/2018...route-transsah

https://www.skyscrapercity.com/threa...sions.1483414/

Compare to the old Azalai

Not for a while... when the older map was drawn it was a lot safer : )

I don't think there is the political will in Algeria to open the country up for tourists to transit through, regardless of whether or not there is an adequate highway present.

The country's fiscal situation is pretty grim. Gas exports will be declining over the next few years quite heavily. The 'new' 2019 hydrocarbon law does not go far enough to attract significant international oil company investment.

Would not keep intrepid overlanders from going though would it?

Intrepid is one thing - ill-advised is another. I was in touch with a colleague recently who was one of those who survived the massacre at In Amenas - still haunted by the experience.

Sorry to hear your colleague is suffering but with respect, the brutal Algerian response to the In Amenas siege has little to do with desert tourism.
I recall meeting Brit oil workers in Algeria who were amazed where we could go, even following the mandatory escort era.
They couldn’t even leave their compounds without private armed security, far less wander across the south as we did.

As for the sealed TSH continuing into Niger, that leads nowhere for most tourists right now – or nowhere as safe compared to Algeria unless military escorts are involved. Who wants that?
Most of us would be happy to just carry on exploring Algeria’s Grand Sud which remains largely closed since In Amenas.
And yet ironically, the only region one can travel off-road is part of that Illizi province right alongside the Libyan border from where the suicide mission to In Amenas was launched.
Other perfectly safe regions remain closed for trekking, let alone 4x4.

There isn’t the political will to open the Grand Sud up for tourists, full stop.
There never really was.

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail

Well, wait. Wasn't Algeria talking about creating an E-visa for tourists in early 2020 (before the pandemic)? I thought that meant they were opening for tourism, making it much easier to get a tourist visa.

I think just as we've seen very closed oil-rich countries like Saudi Arabia open up to tourists (the oil isn't going to be there forever) we might also start to see Algeria open up.

I suspect that there is (as so often) a duality of views in the government - those who want to maintain the status quo (and for whom a security threat is convenient) and those who see tourism as positive for the country. The Energy Ministry and Finance Ministry have a lot more clout than the Ministry of Tourism and the communities which would benefit from increased travel (especially those south of the Atlas, who are marginalised already.

The restrictions on movement of foreigners working in the country stem from a long history of incidents. As I recall, there were restrictions on travellers in the Grand Sud long before the IA attack, although they were tightened thereafter. I think that one of the reasons that foreigners were/are more restricted than independent travellers is that the contracts in support of which the former are present include an obligation on the government to protect the workers, which results in military escorts, zone patrolling, and restrictions on movement. Prior to the IA tragedy the government's eye went off the ball somewhat, I believe, giving MeM the opportunity to conduct the attack (prior to this, there was greater focus). I imagine that there were draconian consequences for the regional Commander and others, and it was easy to impose further restrictions on movement, not only of foreign workers but also on independent travellers, to our loss.

You're absolutely right that there's little attraction at present to venture further south, and that it's sad that we're denied access to this amazing country.

That is exactly what the situation was. I did a 4 week rotation in In Amenes back around 2000 - filling in for another aircraft pilot who had a family emergency. Movement of expatriate workers was highly restricted - heck, we even had to go through a formal process to move from the camp to the airport and back each day.

We had restrictions imposed on us by 3 different levels of authority:

1) The oil companies, who did not want any risk at all that they could not manage by locking everyone down. They imposed very strict movement limitations on their own staff and on their contractors' staff.

2) The Oil Ministry, who - as noted in the original post - had a contractual obligation to protect expatriates, and a significant financial incentive to do so (security problems would result in diminished production).

3) The military, who saw no benefit at all to permitting expat workers to leave their camp.

I never saw any independent travelers during my time there. But, if some had managed to get that far south, they would not have been subject to any of the above occupation-specific restrictions.

Michael

Progress but...
https://constructionreviewonline.com...une-this-year/
https://www.worldhighways.com/wh8/ne...s-sahara-route

Then there's the TAH1. In our lifetime? Who knows.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo%...3Dakar_Highway

Cairo to Dakar exists already, no?
Well, at least it's all sealed but maybe not an autoroute with aires, outside of Tunisia, Alg and Mk. Wasn't the Alg motorway the country's most expensive civil engineering project ever?

The Wiki map is a bit out of date ('2007', it says).
North Sudan is sealed on both sides of the Nile into Egypt, NDB to NKT is sealed as we know, and so I suspect is Bamako direct to Kayes which in the 80s was such hard going my visa expired before I got to Senegal!

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail

Quite misleading map at Wikipedia. I was shocked -and concerned- to see Nouadhibou to Nouakchott as unpaved.

Better map here https://www.au-pida.org/pida-projects/
but still a lot of info missing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB4gFIDyEB0
Wonder what happens in Niger

The road ends here.
I think Assamaka to Arlit remains bandit country, on and off.
Loads of refugees backed up or sent back to Assamaka.

I just made a quick Sahara highways map, mostly from what I know and peering at sat imagery.

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail