The work for the construction of the future largest African gas pipeline linking Nigeria to Morocco is well underway. The OPEC Fund for International Development (OPEC Fund) and Morocco announced on Friday an agreement for the financing of pre-project studies amounting to 14.3 million dollars. This amount will be disbursed by the OPEC Fund.
The 2nd phase of pre-project studies for the African Morocco-Nigeria Continental Gas Pipeline (NMGP) will be partly financed by the OPEC Fund. This part of the study is also co-financed by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).
According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the study in question consists of preparing the documentation for the execution of the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline project and finalizing the related technical, financial and legal analyses.
On Friday, Minister Nadia Fettah Alaoui, the Director General of the OPEC Fund, Abdulhamid Al khalifa, as well as the Director General of ONHYM, Amina Benkhadra, signed “the legal documentation relating to the financing, amounting to 14 .3 million dollars, granted by the OPEC Fund to ONHYM as part of its contribution to the financing of the second phase of the detailed preliminary design study (FEED – Front-End engineering design) of the gas pipeline linking the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Kingdom of Morocco (NMGP Project),” said the same source.
And to add that through its support for this project, the OPEC Fund strengthens, by the same, the relations of financial cooperation with Morocco and contributes to the economic and social dynamics of the Kingdom.
The Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project is seen as one of the biggest and most ambitious projects for Africa. When set up, it will be a model of South-South cooperation, at the economic and political level, which will demonstrate that when Africa wants, it can.
The gas pipeline will link Nigeria to Morocco by crossing 11 countries, and will connect Nigerian gas resources to West African countries and Morocco to serve Europe thereafter.
On Wednesday, Australian engineering and consultancy firm, specializing in the energy and industrial sectors, WorleyParsons, announced that it had been awarded a contract to provide key initial engineering design services (FEED Phase II) for the project for its second phase.
A project for the sovereignty and competitiveness of Africa
The gas pipeline project (NMGP) should be a major turning point in African energy security, in particular West Africa, and will in particular make it possible to use clean, non-polluting energy which is perfectly in line with the global trend of greenhouse gas reduction. greenhouse and in “clean energy”.
Morocco and Nigeria were pioneers with this purely African strategic project, which was initiated by King Mohammed VI and President Muhammadu Buhari, who signed the cooperation agreement in May 2017.
The kingdom, which has embarked on the energy transition in recent years by focusing on the production of green and clean energies, also continues to play its role as an African leader who campaigns for the interests of Africa.
This project will be a real catalyst for the economic development of the North-West region of Africa, which will allow the economic integration of the region.
In addition to the energy component, which will benefit 11 countries and which will also serve Europe, the gas pipeline will also have an impact on the competitiveness of the countries in the region, on economic and social development. It will allow an acceleration of electrification in the region, the development of energy autonomy to support development and the improvement of the living conditions of local populations.
Furthermore, it will make it possible to create jobs, give a boost to regional industries, the creation of African industrial poles, which should improve the business climate in the region, and consequently improve the competitiveness of African countries, particularly in terms of exports between African countries.
As a reminder, Nigeria is the 22nd world producer of gas and 5th exporter in the world and first in Africa. The Morocco-Nigeria gas pipeline is expected to be around 5,660 kilometers long and cost up to $25 billion according to estimates.
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