Nigeria: $25bn Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline Dream Drags

What the report says

Daily Trust reported on August 17, 2026, that the long-planned Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline has still not moved into full construction, despite years of agreements and renewed regional backing. The project, now referred to as the African-Atlantic Gas Pipeline, is being presented as a cross-border energy corridor that would run from Nigeria through multiple West African states to Morocco, with estimated costs of more than $25 billion.

According to the report, ECOWAS endorsed the revised project in July 2026 after member states signed an intergovernmental agreement in Sierra Leone. Nigeria’s delegation was led by Vice President Kashim Shettima, and Petroleum Minister Ekperikpe Ekpo called the signing an important step for regional energy cooperation. Even so, the newspaper said sources blamed slow progress on hesitation within Nigerian authorities and on bureaucratic and political obstacles.

Daily Trust said the initiative has gone through several stages since the original Nigeria-Morocco agreement was signed in 2016, including feasibility work and later engineering and financing studies. The report noted that the pipeline is designed to transport up to 30 billion cubic metres of gas a year, with plans for both regional supply and exports to Europe. It also described a funding model built around public-private partnerships, contributions from the national oil companies of Nigeria and Morocco, participation by host states, support from multilateral lenders, and future gas sales contracts.

The article frames the project as strategically important for West African energy integration and export potential, but also as a test of whether regional ambition can overcome long delays, shifting timelines and coordination challenges.