Rabat– Energy ministers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) summit kicked off in Abuja on November 1 to discuss the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline project, an initiative that aims to connect Nigeria and Morocco.
Leading the Moroccan delegation is Leila Benali, Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, accompanied by Amina Benkhadra, Director General of the National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines, and Mouha Ou Ali Taghma, Morocco’s Ambassador to Nigeria.
During the meeting, Malam Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), announced that the project is currently in the land acquisition and resettlement phase, with an estimated cost of $25 million. He noted that significant progress has been made, particularly the successful completion of the second phase of frontier engineering design.
Olalekan Ogunleye, NNPCL’s Executive Vice Chairman for Gas and Power, emphasized that the decisions made during this meeting will be crucial in shaping the project’s future and will positively impact the economies of the participating nations and the lives of their citizens.
The meeting, which also includes representatives from Mauritania, aims to finalize a governmental agreement on the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline. This agreement will be presented for signature by the leaders of the ECOWAS member states, as well as those from Morocco and Mauritania.
Organized by the ECOWAS Commission, the meeting follows a prior gathering of sector experts and will cover key topics, including a draft governmental agreement and an agreement with the host government concerning the pipeline.
This follows a regional workshop held in Lagos, Nigeria, from October 8 to 11, which focused on discussing and adopting the host country agreement after several rounds of negotiations held in Rabat, Marrakech, and Abidjan.
