The Sahel: a space of confrontation between Morocco and Algeria?

The Sahel area is increasingly becoming a space of indirect confrontation between Algeria and Morocco, as they vie to impose two different regional models, reports Le Matin d’Algerie on 28th May.

The Sahel was traditionally under Algerian influence, as Algiers shares long borders with both Mali and Niger and has long been involved in security issues and diplomatic mediation. However, changing regimes in the region, with General Assimi Goita seizing power in Mali 2021, a 2023 coup in Niger and another in Burkina Faso in 2022 bringing popular army captain Ibrahim Traoré to power, have considerably shifted local politics. The newly installed leaders have turned their backs on traditional alliances with France and other Western powers to promote a Pan-African approach.

Traoré has played a particularly important role in this shift, with the creation of the Alliance of the Sahel States in September 2023 and plans for a unified defense force.

Algeria has struggled to maintain its influence in the region; after the Malian “drone crisis” in 2025, all three countries recalled their ambassadors from Algeria and accused the North African state of supporting separatist groups in the region. While Algeria has made efforts to repair relations, tensions with Bamako in particular remain.

Morocco has benefited from these tensions and has attempted to replace Algeria as the Sahel countries’ favored North African ally and trade partner, and to cement its place as one of Africa’s leading regimes. King Mohammed VI received envoys from all three countries in April 2025, during which they discussed Morocco’s Atlantic initiative for the Sahel.

Rabat’s approach is different: it offers economic partnerships and investments rather than focusing on security issues, and its Atlantic initiative, which would grant the Sahel countries access to Atlantic trade routes, opens new perspectives. On the other hand, this would weaken Algeria’s position, as it has historically used provided the Sahel with access to the Mediterranean area with projects such as the Trans-Sahara pipeline and highway.

With the rivalry between Morocco and Algeria over the Western Sahara at boiling point, the Sahel looks set to become a new point of contention and power struggle.

Le Matin d’Algerie, Maghrebi.org