One of Africa’s most ambitious energy infrastructure projects has finally been signed off at the highest level, with West African leaders formally endorsing the long-awaited Nigeria-Morocco Atlantic Gas Pipeline.
“Don’t be surprised when the gas comes to you,” Julius Maada Bio, Sierra Leone’s president and current head of the West Africa regional bloc ECOWAS, quipped after Sunday evening’s ceremony in Freetown.
The massive 6,000 km (3,700 mi) pipeline will run along the Atlantic coast of 14 African countries, carrying Nigerian gas to Morocco before connecting to Europe’s existing gas network via Spain.
Construction is expected to begin in 2028 with a total estimated cost of $25 billion (£19 billion).
Charles Majomi, an energy expert and former adviser to the Nigerian government, says this marks a change from current models, where gas is typically extracted from African countries, refined and processed overseas and then shipped back to African countries at three or four times the price.
This practice must end, because it is “a complete devaluation of the resource that places like Nigeria and other countries are fortunately endowed with,” he told BBC Focus on Africa.
On the contrary, if leveraged correctly, the new pipeline has the potential to not only stimulate regional industrial development, but also boost Africa’s power on the international stage.
“In terms of Africa’s regional security and its ability to negotiate and get a seat on the global stage, if you like, it needs this utility for countries [in] Europe and Asia potentially,” Mazomi argued.
“Beyond energy security, it will open up Africa as a corridor to international markets,” said Professor Ganiyat Adejoke Adesina-Uthman, of the National Open University of Nigeria.
He said it is a symbol of what Africa can achieve when countries cooperate and work together.
