January
The Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline is regarded as one strategic project on the continent, aimed at promoting regional integration and driving economic growth.
On Wednesday January 24, 2024, Morocco’s Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Leila Benali, and Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ekperikpe Ekpo, met in Rabat to review the status of the Nigeria-Morocco strategic pipeline project and expedite the process of reaching a Final Investment Decision Project.
This will be in accordance with a series of Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) agreed by the two countries in Abuja in 2022.
Both sides highlighted the project’s strategic importance to the two nations and the whole African continent, as well as the necessity to complete it as soon as possible in order to address energy poverty on the continent.
Following the meeting, Benali told the press that Ekpo’s working visit to Morocco provided a chance to study several projects, including the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline project.
She also mentioned that these projects are part of the positive momentum injected into bilateral relations by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI’s visit to Nigeria in December 2016, as well as following the sovereign’s telephone conversation this week with the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu.
For his part, Ekpo stated that the goal of his two-day visit to Morocco was to provide both sides the opportunity to examine the progress of the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project, which was started in 2016 in connection with a royal visit to Nigeria.
“In light of what has been accomplished, the project is moving forward,” the Nigerian official stated, appreciating Morocco’s efforts.
The ministers also focused their discussions on key initiatives in the energy and sustainable development sectors.
Morocco and Nigeria maintain cooperative ties and beneficial cooperation in the domains of energy transition and sustainable development, as evidenced by the exchange of knowledge, expertise, capacity building, and project implementation.
Once completed the pipeline will stretch from Nigeria down the West African coast, passing through 13 African nations before connecting to the European market through Spain. The project, which stretches over 5,700 km, will have an annual capacity of 30 to 40 billion cubic metres, equivalent to three billion standard cubic feet of gas delivered daily.
Source: Energy Ghana