Rabat – Amina Benkhadra, Director General of Morocco’s National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM), has announced that progress on the Morocco-Nigeria gas pipeline has reached “significant steps”.
Benkhadra made her remarks on Saturday at the 10th Geopolitical Meetings of Trouville, northern France.
The event hosted Morocco as a guest of honor. During the symposium, Benkhadra said the Morocco-Nigeria pipeline reached significant steps in terms of engineering and environmental studies.
Stressing that all conditions for success are in place, Benkhadra said that the goal is to move forward in the next stages.
“We want to accelerate the next stages after the signing of the treaty related to the project, with the creation of the company responsible for overseeing the following phases,” Benkhadra said.
For Benkhadra, the project positions Morocco as an energy corridor and a gateway between Africa and Europe.
Morocco has long emphasized the importance of the project, stating that the pipeline aims to benefit 13 countries. The project is expected to provide energy supply to at least 400 million people, as well as foster the growth of key industrial sectors like mining.
“The energy and socio-economic benefits of this large-scale project,” she added, will also position Africa as a key player in securing Europe’s energy supply and diversifying its resources.
In May, Minister of Energy Transition Leila Benali announced that the engineering studies for the pipeline were completed, including mapping out plans for the pipeline’s optimal route.
The minister confirmed that the project will need an estimated budget of around $25 billion, describing it as a catalyst for economic, industrial, and developmental development.
The project’s infrastructure will stretch over 6,000 kilometers, with a capacity ranging between 15 and 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
