Nigeria and Morocco Held Talks to Construct a Huge Gas Pipeline Project in Africa
Nigeria and Morocco has signed a bilateral agreement for the construction of a huge gas pipeline in Africa. Both countries want to equip the continent with a gas pipeline that will cross the entire West African coast to Morocco and extend to Europe. King Mohammed VI and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari signed a bilateral agreement on Saturday December 3rd, 2016.
The precise length of the structure has not been announced at this time.
The objective of the Moroccan-Nigerian gas pipeline project will be to extend a pipeline that currently passes through only four countries (Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana) to Morocco via Dakar.
“As a major project to promote regional economic integration, the pipeline will be designed with the participation of all stakeholders, with the aim of accelerating electrification projects throughout the region,” says The joint communiqué.
This pipeline should give rise to a “competitive regional electricity market, likely to be linked to the European energy market, to develop integrated industrial clusters in the subregion in sectors such as industry, Agro-business and fertilizers “, promise its initiators.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said that the pipeline would “go along the coast from West Africa — Nigeria — all the way up to Morocco and into Europe eventually”.
“That’s a very big and important project for us,” Onyeama added, without giving further details. Onyeama’s comments came as Morocco’s King Mohammed VI wrapped up a two-day visit to Abuja, where he met with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.
In 2002, Algeria negotiated with Nigeria for a similar pipeline project that crosses the Sahel region and Algeria to reach the gates of Europe. The project finally remained a dead end for reasons of financing and security.
Morocco’s pipeline is more likely to succeed because it fulfills all the conditions of security and financing.
What remains to be seen is the layout and financing details of the gas pipeline project.
