Heads of state from the Economic Community of West African States have signed an Intergovernmental Agreement for the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline, a legally binding framework marking a major milestone for one of Africa’s largest cross-border energy projects.

The pipeline is designed to carry up to 30 billion cubic metres of natural gas a year from Nigeria through 13 Atlantic coastal countries to Morocco, with roughly 15 bcm available for Moroccan and European markets via the existing pipeline linking Morocco to Spain. Running an estimated 6,900 kilometres along a hybrid offshore-onshore route at a projected cost of $25 billion, the project also connects to the Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline and includes links to landlocked Sahel states.

First agreed a decade ago between Morocco’s King Mohammed VI and Nigeria’s late president Muhammadu Buhari, the project has already completed feasibility studies and front-end engineering design work, along with route surveys and progress on environmental and social impact assessments. The next implementation phase includes setting up a Special Purpose Vehicle headquartered in Casablanca and a Pipeline Higher Authority based in Abuja, both tasked with overseeing development, investor engagement and preparations for a final investment decision. A further signing ceremony between Morocco and Mauritania is expected later, in the presence of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu.

The project is jointly promoted by NNPC and Morocco’s ONHYM, and its backers extend well beyond the two co-sponsors. For Nigeria, the pipeline is a way to monetise Africa’s largest proven gas reserves while diversifying export routes — Abuja is simultaneously keeping alive discussions on a rival Trans-Saharan pipeline through Niger and Algeria, positioning itself to avoid over-reliance on any single corridor. For Morocco, the project reinforces its ambition to become an energy and logistics bridge between Africa and Europe, deepening economic ties with coastal West African states while strengthening its regional standing against rival Algeria.

The United Arab Emirates has been floated as a potential major financier, continuing its pattern of expanding investment across African ports, logistics and energy, while the Islamic Development Bank and the OPEC Fund for International Development have already funded preparatory engineering and environmental studies — though far short of the full $25 billion needed. Chinese firms are seen as likely suppliers of steel and construction services rather than political backers, while Europe remains a potential but uncommitted buyer, tempered by the bloc’s own push to cut fossil fuel demand before the pipeline could be fully operational in the 2030s. ECOWAS’s endorsement hands the project political legitimacy, but financing, transit regulations, tariffs and taxation across participating countries still need to be settled before construction can begin.

Source: (egyptoil-gas.com, middle-east-online.com, news.az)