Rabat – Morocco’s National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM) has signed five new Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with several countries, which emphasized their unwavering support for the implementation of the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline.
Morocco signed the five agreements with Nigeria, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Ghana.
The signing reflects the countries’ determination to support the Morocco-Nigeria gas pipeline project which seeks to improve energy infrastructure in the region.
The 5,600-kilometer-long pipeline project will span over more than 11 countries along the Atlantic coast, with the ambition of benefiting over 400 million inhabitants.
Morocco will be home to 1,672 kilometers of the pipeline, which will transport Nigerian gas to Europe through the North African country, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, and Benin.
ONHYM general director Amina Benkhadra said that the pipeline project is on the right track, emphasizing that the project is to ensure further integration and cooperation between West African countries and improve socio-economic development in Africa.
CEO of the National Nigerian Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari expressed satisfaction with the signed agreements, emphasizing that they will allow signatory countries to provide support for the construction of the project.
King Mohammed VI has also spoken of the importance of the project for regional integration, stressing Morocco’s commitment to promoting socio-economic advancement across the continent.
“I want this to be a strategic project that benefits all of West Africa – a region which is home to more than 440 million people,” the King said during his speech commemorating the Green March anniversary on November 6.
Investors are set to put in a budget of $25 billion to carry out the implementation of the gas pipeline.
