Rabat. 5 new African countries signed the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project (photo)

Five new African countries have signed MoUs on the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project with the Economic Community of West African States, Senegal and Mauritania, in addition to previously signed MoUs.

The Moroccan website Hespress reported that the tripartite memorandums were signed at a meeting organized in the capital Rabat between Morocco and Nigeria on the one hand, and the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ghana on the other, in the presence of Amina Benhadra, CEO National Authority for Hydrocarbons and Minerals in Morocco, and officials of national companies in the countries concerned.

These are the Gambia National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Petroguin of Guinea-Bissau, SONAP of Guinea, Sierra Leone Petroleum Authority (PDSL) and the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC).

The line is expected to span more than 6,000 km through 11 countries and, when completed in 2027, is expected to transport about 3 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day along the coast of West Africa to Morocco and Europe.

The gas pipeline will be laid along the coast of West Africa, starting from Nigeria and passing through Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Senegal and Mauritania to Morocco, to the European Maghreb” and the European gas network.

Amina Benhadra, Director General of the National Hydrocarbons and Minerals Administration, said that the conclusion of these memorandums confirms the commitment of the countries that will be connected to the pipeline to help revitalize the project, which will provide gas to all West African countries and become a new transit hub for exports to Europe.

In her speech at the signing meeting, she added that the new memorandums of understanding will help strengthen cooperation between interested countries and determine the areas through which the pipeline will pass, in addition to determining each country’s natural gas needs and granting the necessary licenses, whether for land or sea.

It is worth noting that this large-scale project was announced in the Nigerian capital in 2016 in Abuja by King Mohammed VI and President of Nigeria Mohammed Buhari, but it requires a number of studies to reach the stage of cost assessment and finding the necessary funding.

Source: Moroccan site Hespress.

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