Since its announcement, the Morocco-Nigeria gas pipeline has emerged as one of the continent’s most ambitious plans with the greatest potential. This energy megaproject, which crosses 13 territorial waters, consists of a 7,000-kilometre pipeline.
For this reason, Nigeria’s state oil company, NNPC, has urged investors to invest in this project during an event in Abuja. As reported by Morocco World News, the oil company’s chief financial officer, Umar Ajiya, stressed that the pipeline “offers investment opportunities”.
The project, first presented in 2016, attracted the attention of European players after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, a conflict that significantly affected the world’s gas supply. A year after its presentation, in 2017, the pipeline was officially launched through a joint initiative.
Subsequently, in December 2021, Morocco and Nigeria signed an agreement to finance the project after the project was approved by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).
In 2022, the ambitious energy plan received substantial funding from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The investment is currently funding the project’s feasibility study, also known as Front-End Engineering Design (FEED).
Earlier in the year, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari also had a phone call with Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, to whom he expressed his commitment and desire to get the pipeline operational as soon as possible.
The Moroccan monarch, for his part, highlighted the importance of the initiative during his address to the nation on the occasion of the 47th anniversary of the Green March in November last year. In this regard, Mohammed VI stressed his commitment to boosting prosperity in West Africa. “The pipeline offers the fifteen member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) opportunities and guarantees in terms of energy security and socio-economic and industrial development,” said the king.
In 2022, the pipeline received a major boost. Five new tripartite Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were also signed in Rabat related to this initiative. These MoUs were signed respectively by Morocco and Nigeria on the one hand, and Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ghana on the other.
In addition to the possibility of transporting gas to Europe from North Africa through the Maghreb-Europe pipeline, the Morocco-Nigeria pipeline crosses 11 African countries, meeting the energy needs of almost 400 million people.
For this reason, according to numerous experts, the project promises to support Africa’s socio-economic development, as well as attract foreign investment to the region, have a positive impact on employment and foster wealth creation in the region.
Source : Atalayar
