West African leaders greenlight natural gas pipeline project connecting Nigeria and Morocco

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West African leaders on Sunday signed an agreement approving the construction of a gas pipeline linking Nigeria to Morocco at a summit of regional bloc ECOWAS in Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown.

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The roughly 6,000-kilometre (3,700-mile) Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) will cross 13 countries along Africa’s Atlantic coast, carrying Nigerian gas to Morocco before connecting to the Maghreb-Europe pipeline.

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“We have already signed the West Africa-Morocco gas pipeline,” said ECOWAS chair Julius Maada Bio said. “Don’t be surprised when the gas comes your way.”

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Morocco’s state hydrocarbons agency ONHYM and Nigeria’s state oil company NNPC said in a statement that the project aimed to link west Africa’s gas resources to major regional markets.

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It also hopes to “strengthen the integration of African energy markets and create a new development corridor linking” west Africa, the Sahel, Morocco and Europe.

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The next steps include creating a “project company” based in Casablanca and a governing authority headquartered in Abuja before investors are brought on board and a final investment decision is taken, they added.

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Construction is expected to begin in 2028, with the first gas deliveries targeted for 2031, said an ONHYM source.

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The project, first proposed during Moroccan King Mohammed VI’s visit to Abuja in 2016, is estimated to cost around $27 billion.

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Its revival has been driven in part by Algeria’s 2022 decision to stop supplying gas to Spain via Morocco after diplomatic ties between Algiers and Rabat broke down.

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