The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has just concluded a regional workshop to lay groundwork for the 7, 000kms African Atlantic Gas Pipeline Project (AAGP).
- The pipeline will merge the West AfricanGas Pipeline Extension Project (WAGPEP) and the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline Project (NMGP) into a single gas pipeline project.
- AAGP will traverse 13 coastal countries, with spur lines connecting the three ECOWAS landlocked countries.
- At the 4-day regional workshop, the regional body reviewed and validated the Host Government Agreement on the project.
“The African Atlantic Gas Pipeline is more than just a pipeline; it symbolises our shared ambition to create a united energy market across West Africa and beyond,” Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources, said.
The project was conceived in 2016 by Nigeria and Morocco, before it stalled. It was revived in 2024. At a geopolitical level, the idea behind it is to provide Morocco with energy security through a route that bypasses its regional rival, Algeria. In 2021, an escalation in the diplomatic rift so Algiers shut down the Maghreb-Europe pipeline, forcing Morocco, which is a net importer, to seek alternatives.
“Natural gas is a promising transitional energy source for the region,” Dabire Bayaornibè, the Director of Energy and Mines at the ECOWAS Commission, added.
