Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni traveled to Algiers on Wednesday to secure expanded gas supply from Algeria after Iranian strikes on Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City disrupted LNG deliveries to Europe, according to Reuters. The two events are part of a broader and accelerating pattern of European nations reaching into Africa to fill supply gaps opened by geopolitical conflict. North Africa’s Pipeline Infrastructure Offers a Structural AdvantageThe common thread across these moves is a preference for African supply chains that bypass seaborne chokepoints. The deal, struck alongside a $500 million renewable energy partnership, reflects how Europe’s turn toward African supply predates the current Iran crisis by several years. Each successive shock since 2022 has widened the geography of Europe’s search for African gas, pulling in producers from North Africa to sub-Saharan Africa and drawing in buyers from Italy and Spain to Germany and Ukraine.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 26, 2026 19:22 UTC