West Africa signs off $25bn mega gas-pipeline plan

What the report says

BBC Africa reports that West African leaders have given high-level political approval to the Nigeria-Morocco Atlantic Gas Pipeline, a proposed 6,000km energy corridor running along the Atlantic coast through 14 African countries. The endorsement came after a ceremony in Freetown, Sierra Leone, with construction expected to start in 2028 and the project cost estimated at $25bn.

The pipeline is designed to move natural gas from Nigeria, which has Africa’s largest proven reserves, north to Morocco and then connect to Europe’s gas network via Spain. If completed as planned, the project could carry about 30bn cubic metres of gas annually and serve a market of roughly 400 million consumers. BBC Africa says the latest agreement creates the legal and governance framework for the scheme after around a decade of negotiations, leaving financing and construction as the next major tests.

Nigeria’s state oil company and Morocco’s national mining body are leading the project, with support from institutions including Ecowas, the Islamic Development Bank and the Opec Fund for International Development. Analysts cited by the BBC say the pipeline may be built in stages, beginning with sections around Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal before later links further south and eventually to Nigeria.

The project is being presented as a way to expand regional energy access, support industries such as power generation, fertiliser and petrochemicals, and strengthen Africa’s position in international energy markets. However, the BBC notes major risks remain, including securing funding, protecting long offshore and coastal infrastructure, political stability across participating states, competition from other gas export routes and uncertainty over future European demand as renewables expand.