ECOWAS pact pushes $25bn Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline forward
West African nations have signed an intergovernmental agreement backing the $25 billion Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline, clearing a major hurdle for a project designed to export 30 billion cubic metres of gas annually to regional markets and Europe.
ECOWAS member states signed an intergovernmental agreement on Sunday in Freetown, Sierra Leone, throwing their political weight behind the $25 billion Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline. The backing from the regional bloc represents a crucial step toward mobilizing financing for what would be one of Africa's largest energy infrastructure investments.
The pipeline is designed to transport up to 30 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas annually across 13 West African countries. Of that volume, 15 bcm will be earmarked for Morocco and European markets, flowing through the existing Morocco-Spain interconnection. For Europe, the project offers a potential new supply source, while West Africa gains a vehicle for regional energy integration, power generation, and industrial development.
According to a joint statement from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and Morocco’s National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM), the project has cleared its preliminary engineering hurdles. Both the feasibility study and the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) phases are complete. The next immediate milestone is a bilateral agreement between Morocco and Mauritania, expected to be signed in the presence of Nigeria’s president.
The 6,900-kilometre hybrid offshore and onshore route was first proposed a decade ago by the King of Morocco and the Nigerian President. NNPC secured a mandate from Nigeria's Federal Executive Council in June 2022, followed by agreements with five individual African nations later that year. However, the project has historically struggled with delays. In March 2024, then-NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer Mele Kyari targeted a Final Investment Decision (FID) by the end of that year, a deadline that has since passed.
The primary obstacles have been the sheer scale of the financing requirements and the complexity of cross-border coordination for one of the world's longest offshore pipelines. By securing the ECOWAS intergovernmental pact, the project sponsors have addressed a major political risk. This positions NNPC and ONHYM to move closer to unlocking the construction phase and engaging the capital markets required to fund the massive infrastructure buildout.
