Algeria - Laghouat – Ghardaïa – El Menéa Railway Line Construction Project

The Laghouat–Ghardaïa–El Ménéa Railway Line Construction Project (First Phase) is a large-scale sovereign investment aimed at expanding and modernising Algeria’s national railway network over a total length of 495 kilometres in southern Algeria. The project constitutes a strategic segment of the future trans-Saharan rail corridor linking Algiers to Tamanrasset and, in the longer term, to the Sahel region. It seeks to improve rail transport competitiveness, reduce logistics costs, facilitate the movement of goods and people, and support balanced territorial development by opening up remote agricultural, industrial and mining areas. The first phase of the project has an estimated total cost of EUR 1.49 billion (approximately USD 1.75 billion). Financing is provided through a loan of EUR 747.32 million from the African Development Bank, representing 50% of the cost of the first tranche, complemented by a loan from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and a counterpart contribution from the Government of Algeria, which covers land acquisition, resettlement costs, institutional arrangements and part of the rolling stock. The borrower is the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, and implementation is carried out by the Ministry of Public Works and Basic Infrastructure through the National Agency for Studies and Monitoring of Railway Investment Projects (ANESRIF).