West African leaders signed the Intergovernmental Agreement governing the development of the Nigeria-Morocco African Atlantic Gas Pipeline at the 69th ECOWAS Summit in Freetown, Sierra Leone on Sunday, formally endorsing one of the most ambitious energy infrastructure projects ever conceived on the African continent and moving the $25 billion initiative closer to construction.
The roughly 6,800-kilometre pipeline will cross 13 countries along Africa’s Atlantic coast, carrying Nigerian gas to Morocco before connecting to the Maghreb-Europe pipeline. ECOWAS chair Julius Maada Bio, host of the summit, left no ambiguity about what had been achieved: “We have already signed the West Africa-Morocco gas pipeline. Don’t be surprised when the gas comes your way.”
The project was spearheaded by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI and the late Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari when it was first proposed in 2016. It received continued support from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whose administration accelerated the diplomatic groundwork that culminated in Sunday’s signing. The project is being jointly developed by Morocco’s National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines, (ONHYM), and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, (NNPC Ltd).
It will have a transport capacity of 30 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year, of which up to 15 billion cubic metres could be exported to Morocco and Europe, with the remainder destined to supply regional markets. The pipeline is designed not only as an export corridor but as a continental infrastructure asset capable of supplying electricity generation, industrialisation, and natural resource development across West Africa.
Construction is expected to begin in 2027, with the first gas deliveries targeted for 2031. A separate signing between Morocco and gas-rich Mauritania is also planned at a later date in the presence of Nigeria’s president, further expanding the pipeline’s supply base beyond Nigerian fields alone.
The timing of the approval carries particular weight. The Middle East conflict has escalated over the weekend, with oil prices jumping 3 per cent on Monday as the US and Iran expanded attacks that have curbed energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. For West Africa’s energy-importing nations, the pipeline represents precisely the kind of domestic energy infrastructure that reduces exposure to the kind of external supply shock the region is currently living through.
For Morocco, the project advances its ambition to position itself as an energy bridge between Africa and Europe. For Nigeria, it monetises gas resources that have historically been flared or left underdeveloped. For the 13 countries the pipeline will cross, it represents a development corridor that could transform energy access, industrial capacity, and regional integration across Africa’s Atlantic coast for generations.
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