Nigeria, Morocco, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Benin, Guinea Sign MOUs On Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline Project

Abuja, Nigeria, June 16^th, 2023. West Africa marked another important milestone in energy sustainability, at the headquarters of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as four significant Memoranda of Understanding related to the Nigeria Morocco Gas Pipeline Project were signed. Additionally, the project’s Steering Committee convened to discuss the progress of the Project and its strategic direction.

Four Memoranda of Understanding were signed on Friday, June 16, in Abuja as part of the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline Project. These tripartite MOUs were respectively and successively signed between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM) of Morocco on one hand, and the Société Nationale des Opérations Pétrolières of Cote d’Ivoire (PETROCI), the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL), the Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures of Benin (SNH-Benin), and the Société Nationale des Pétroles of the Republic of Guinea (SONAP) on the other hand.

These Memoranda of Understanding, similar to those signed with ECOWAS on September 15, 2022, Mauritania and Senegal on October 15, 2022, and The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, and Ghana on December 5, 2022, reaffirm the commitment of the Parties to this strategic project. Once completed, the project will enhance the monetization of the natural gas resources of the affected African countries and also offer a new alternative export route to Europe.

The signings took place on the side-lines of the Steering Committee meeting of the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline Project, which was attended by representatives from ECOWAS and all the participating countries, including Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, and Morocco.

This significant infrastructure project will contribute to accelerating access to energy for all, improving the living conditions of the populations, integrating the economies of the sub-region, and mitigating desertification. It will achieve these goals through the provision of sustainable and reliable gas supply that aligns with the continent’s new environmental commitments, while providing Africa with a new economic, political, and strategic dimension. In his remarks, the Group CEO, NNPC Ltd, Mr. Mele Kyari thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Nigerian Government for entrusting NNPC Ltd. with this strategic project as the National Energy Company. He added that “as a commercial enterprise, NNPC Ltd. sees this project as an opportunity to monetise Nigeria’s abundant hydrocarbon resources, by expanding Access to energy to support economic growth, industrialization, and job creation across the African continent and beyond.

Also speaking, the Director General of ONHYM, Amina Benkhadra said that the gathering represents a progressive step in ensuring social and economic development through energy security and accessibility geared towards attaining total development of Africa by Africans.

In his remarks, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitization, Mr. Sédiko Douka said the gas pipeline project is significant as it will help strengthen the region’s electricity production/generation capacity, stimulate industrial and agricultural development, and contribute to the energy transition by using a source of energy that is cleaner than other fossil fuels.

To recall ECOWAS was implemented the development of the West Africa Gas Pipeline Extension Project (WAGPEP) through a feasibility study approved in 2018. At the same time, Nigeria and Morocco decided to launch the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline Project (NMGP) via NNPC Ltd. and ONHYM. “The similarities between the two projects soon became apparent, and so, the need for synergy to pool efforts in order to achieve a single gas pipeline project. The two project teams worked together to have a MOU signed in September 2022 to merge the two projects into a single project.

It is in this background that the 1st steering committee of the unique Gas pipeline Project was organized to take stock of the project current status, to discuss the general principles of the Treaty and Host country Agreement as well others keys subjects such us the environmental and survey studies to be undertaking.

On the margins of the meeting, the Steering Committee paid a courtesy visit to H.E. Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission.