Rabat – The US is interested in investing in the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline project, Voice of Naija reported on Sunday.
Quoting Nigeria’s Minister of Finance Wale Edun, the news outlet said the Nigerian official announced the news on Saturday, where he outlined his ministry’s engagement during the 2025 Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank.
The Nigerian official announced that he held a meeting with Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor Olayemi Gardoso and the director of international economic relations, as well as with representatives from the US State Department.
“Key areas of interest include U.S. interest in investments in Nigeria’s natural gas sector, particularly the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline, given the country’s vast gas reserves,” the minister said.
The much-anticipated project was first initiated by King Mohammed VI and former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016, with the goal to promote regional integration in the West African region, reinforcing African energy security.
Both countries have expressed determination to continue boosting cooperation, including through the gas pipeline project, which will span over 13 countries along the Atlantic coast, with the ambition of benefiting over 34 million inhabitants.
Morocco is set to be home to 1,672 kilometers of the pipeline, which will connect the Nigerian gas to Europe and to other destinations, including Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, and Benin.
King Mohammed VI has constantly emphasized the importance of the project, within which investors seek to contribute by putting a budget of $25 billion.
“This is a project for peace for African economic integration and for co-development: A project for the present and for the future generations,” the King said, noting that the project’s goal is in a bid to support accelerating socio-economic development across the continent.
The US’ interest in the project comes as the country continues to express determination to further boost cooperation with Morocco.
On April 8, the US reaffirmed this determination when Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita was on a visit to Washington, where he met senior officials from the White House, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Notably, Morocco is the only African country with a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US.
A source told Morocco World News (MWN) earlier this month that since the FTA came into force in 2006, trade exchanges have “shown a fluctuating yet upward trend.”
Trade between the two countries has increased sixfold, reaching $7.2 billion in 2023 compared to $1.3 billion in 2006.
US goods to Morocco reached $5.3 billion in value in 2024, representing a 37.3% rise from the previous year. This makes Morocco the 64th largest export market for US goods. US imports from Morocco reached 1.9 billion, with a 12.3% increase from 2023.
