Nigeria: Ahmed Attaf tries to keep pace with Nasser Bourita

Moroccan diplomacy is one step ahead of Algeria’s. Three weeks after the May 8 phone call between Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and his Nigerian counterpart, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Algeria’s top diplomat, Ahmed Attaf, held talks with the Nigerian minister on Monday in Seoul, on the sidelines of the South Korea–African Union meeting.

During the meeting, Ahmed Attaf «discussed with his Nigerian counterpart prospects for strengthening the privileged relations between the two brotherly countries. The two ministers also reviewed the latest developments in the Sahel region and ways to contribute jointly to promoting peace and development there, particularly through the implementation of structural projects focused on integration», Algeria’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

However, the same source made no explicit mention of the trans-Saharan gas pipeline project intended to link Nigeria, Niger and Algeria. By contrast, the May 8 talks between Nasser Bourita and Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu had focused extensively on the Africa-Atlantic gas pipeline project.

On that occasion, the Nigerian minister notably announced that King Mohammed VI and Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu are expected to sign, in the final quarter of 2026, an agreement marking the official launch of work on this strategic infrastructure.

This attempt to catch up with Nasser Bourita has become a recurring feature of Algerian diplomacy. This was illustrated by the phone calls Ahmed Attaf held on October 21 and 23, respectively, with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and his Belgian counterpart, Maxime Prévot. Those exchanges came in the wake of visits by Morocco’s foreign minister to Moscow and Brussels.