The Summit of Heads of State and Government of the member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Sunday, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, signed an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) approving the construction of the Nigeria-Morocco African Atlantic GasPipeline(AAGP). The pipeline, a nearly 6,800 kilometers energy infrastructure, is designed to transport up to 30 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas a year from Nigeria through 13 West African countries to Morocco, before connecting to the European gas network. The gas pipeline is set to cross 13 countries along Africa’s Atlantic coast, including Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, and Morocco and connect to the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline in northern Morocco. The signing marks the endorsement by the ECOWAS Member States of the Nigeria-Morocco AAGP, an initiative launched by His Majesty King Mohammed VI and former Nigerian President, the late Muhammadu Buhari, with the continued support of current President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. 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.). The agreement paves the way for the next implementation phase, which will notably include the establishment of the Project Company, to be headquartered in Casablanca, as well as the Pipeline Higher Authority, whose headquarters are planned for Abuja, ahead of the mobilization of investors and the preparation of the Final Investment Decision (FID). The final stage will be marked by a dedicated ceremony to be held subsequently in the Kingdom of Morocco, during which the Kingdom of Morocco and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania will jointly sign the Agreement, in the presence of the Nigerian President. It will have a transport capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, of which up to 15 billion cubic meters could be exported to Morocco and Europe, with the remainder destined to supply regional markets. Estimated at approximately $25 billion, the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline aims to establish an integrated regional natural gas market across West Africa, support electricity generation, industrialization, and the development of the continent’s natural resources. The commissioning of the first pipeline segments is expected at the beginning of the next decade. Launched as a joint strategic initiative between Morocco and Nigeria, the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline has now evolved into a project embraced by all of West Africa. The ownership of the project by ECOWAS member States strengthens its political and institutional foundation, while reinforcing the founding impetus advanced by its two promoting countries, which believe that Africa’s energy security is a fundamental driver of sovereignty, industrialization, and shared prosperity. By formalizing the collective endorsement of ECOWAS member States, the Freetown Summit confirms the African scope of this initiative and its central role in the Continent’s integration policies. ONHYM and NNPC Ltd had announced that the main engineering, environmental, and technical studies have now been completed, enabling the project to gradually enter its operational development phase following the signing of this Agreement in Rabat by Morocco and Mauritania. Beyond its energy dimension, the infrastructure is intended to serve as a true development corridor connecting African economies, thereby strengthening their integration and competitiveness.
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