The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPCL) has announced the signing of agreements with Morocco, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Benin and Guinea. This significant announcement was shared in a press release on June 16 via social media. The signing, which took place at the headquarters of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), marks an important milestone. The four countries signed an agreement to build the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline, which stretches over 5,600 kilometers and crosses 13 African countries from Nigeria to Morocco. The first Memorandum of Understanding between Nigeria and Morocco was signed on September 15, 2022, starting the pipeline project.
Accelerate access to energy for all, improve the living conditions of the populations, integrate the economies of the sub-region, and mitigate desertification. Provide 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. Create an opportunity for Nigeria to monetize its abundant hydrocarbon resources, by expanding access to energy to support economic growth, industrialization, and job creation across the African continent and beyond. Ensuring social and economic development through energy security and accessibility geared towards attaining total development of Africa by Africans. Strengthening the region’s electricity production/generation capacity, stimulating industrial and agricultural development, and contributing to the energy transition by using a source of energy that is cleaner than other fossil fuels.
A part of the NNPCL press release cited earlier stated: “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 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, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, and Morocco.”
