ABUJA: Ivory Coast, Liberia, Benin and Guinea, have joined other countries in Abuja, Nigeria, in signing agreements on the Nigeria-Morocco gas Pipeline project.
On June 16, 2023, the tripartite Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) were signed among 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 Ivory Coast (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).
The signings took place on the sidelines 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, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco.
These Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), 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, reaffirmed the commitment of the Parties to the strategic project.
The Group’s Chief Executive Officer of NNPC of Nigeria limited, Mele Kyari, while speaking during the ceremony at the ECOWAS Headquarters in Abuja, said; “Once completed, the project will enhance the monetization of the natural gas resources of the affected African countries and offer a new alternative export route to Europe.
“The 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.”
Kyari expressed his appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Nigerian Government for entrusting NNPC Ltd with this strategic project as the National Energy Company.
“As a commercial enterprise, NNPC Ltd sees this project as an opportunity to monetize Nigeria’s abundant hydrocarbon resources, by expanding access to energy to support economic growth, industrialization, and job creation across the African continent and beyond,” he said.
For her part, the Director General of ONHYM, Amina Benkhadra, said, “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.”
The ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitization, 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.”
The Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline was proposed in a December 2016 with the agreement between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Moroccan Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (National Board of Hydrocarbons and Mines) (ONHYM).
The pipeline would connect Nigerian gas to every coastal country in West Africa (Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Senegal, and Mauritania), ending at Tangiers, Morocco, and Cádiz, Spain. Courtesy THE WILL.
