Monday 24 February 2025 
The Secretary General of the Ministry of Public Works, Hydraulics and Basic Infrastructure, Salim Djaalal, affirmed Saturday in Sétif the need to move on to the economic management phase of the trans-Saharan road as soon as it is completed.
Chairing the opening of a study day on “the importance of basic transport infrastructure for the national economy” at the Houari-Boumediene cultural center initiated by the Trans-Saharan Road Liaison Committee and a he local study, the same manager noted “the need to go to other stages that allow us to take advantage of it”.
“We can say that we have practically completed this road in its section in Algeria of which there are no more than 7 km left and we must now move on to the economic management phase of the project for the movement of people and trade between the 6 countries. crossed by this road”, he added, indicating that 2,300 km of the 10,000 km of this road are in Algeria knowing that the trans-Saharan route also covers Tunisia and four capitals of countries in the Sahel and South of the Sahara (Niger, Mali , Chad and Nigeria).
The same official assured that “work is in progress to put in place all the mechanisms for the economic management of this road and to remove the obstacles likely to be encountered by the economic operator to transport his goods between these countries crossed by the trans-Saharan “, adding that the Trans-Saharan Highway Liaison Committee will become an economic coordination committee with the countries concerned to find measures to facilitate trade from the ports to the depths of Africa.
“Algeria has attached great importance to this road which constitutes an attractive vital artery of development, especially since it has one of the largest road networks in Africa with more than 141,000 km of roads in all categories”, added the same responsible.
For his part, the wali of Sétif Mohamed Lamine Deramchi estimated that the trans-Saharan road will constitute “a link for the consolidation of trade and an increase in their volumes”.
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He also noted that the economic dynamic experienced by the wilaya of Sétif is favored by its road network which includes 634 km of national roads, 689 km of wilaya paths, 1,162 km of communal paths in addition to 75 km of highway, 83 km of railway and 15.2 km of tram line.
The meeting gave rise to the presentation and debates of several meetings on the trans-Saharan road as a means of development for the 6 African countries, the importance of land transport for the economy and sustainable development and Sétif as a crossroads.