By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Four significant Memoranda of Understanding related to the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline project have been signed by Nigeria and four other African countries.
The deals were signed on Friday, June 16, in Abuja by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM) of Morocco, the Société Nationale des Opérations Pétrolières of Cote d’Ivoire (PETROCI), the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL), the Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures of Benin (SNH-Benin), and the Société Nationale des Pétroles of the Republic of Guinea (SONAP).
They are similar to those signed with ECOWAS on September 15, 2022, Mauritania and Senegal on October 15, 2022, and The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, and Ghana on December 5, 2022.
The project will enhance the monetisation of the affected African countries’ natural gas resources and offer a new alternative export route to Europe.
It will also contribute to accelerating access to energy for all, improving the living conditions of the populations, integrating the economies of the sub-region, and mitigating desertification.
It will achieve these goals through the provision of a sustainable and reliable gas supply that aligns with the continent’s new environmental commitments while providing Africa with a new economic, political, and strategic dimension.
Speaking at the project’s Steering Committee meeting, where the MOUs were sealed, the group chief executive of NNPC, Mr Mele Kyari, thanked the Nigerian government for entrusting the company with this strategic project as the national energy company.
“As a commercial enterprise, NNPC sees this project as an opportunity to monetise Nigeria’s abundant hydrocarbon resources by expanding Access to energy to support economic growth, industrialisation, and job creation across the African continent and beyond,” he said.
Also, the Director-General of ONHYM, Amina Benkhadra, said that the gathering represents a progressive step in ensuring social and economic development through energy security and accessibility geared towards attaining total development of Africa by Africans.
In his remarks, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitisation, Mr Sédiko Douka, said the gas pipeline project is significant as it will help strengthen the region’s electricity production/generation capacity, stimulate industrial and agricultural development, and contribute to the energy transition by using a source of energy that is cleaner than other fossil fuels.
The meeting was attended by representatives from ECOWAS and all the participating countries, including Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, and Morocco.
