Morocco's national hydrocarbons and mining agency (ONHYM) has confirmed that the long-stalled intergovernmental agreement (IGA) for the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline will be signed in 2026, clearing a major regulatory hurdle for one of Africa's most ambitious energy infrastructure projects. The $25 billion initiative, formally designated the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline, has been under negotiation for over a decade and has now cleared the feasibility and front-end engineering design (FEED) stages, according to ONHYM Director General Amina Benkhadra.
The pipeline will span approximately 6,900 kilometers along a hybrid offshore-onshore corridor connecting Nigeria's prolific upstream gas basins to Morocco's Atlantic coast and onward to European markets. The project is designed to deliver a maximum throughput of 30 billion cubic meters per year, with 15 bcm earmarked specifically for Moroccan domestic consumption and export obligations to Europe. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has backed the initiative, lending it the diplomatic weight needed to coordinate across the 13 participating nations along the route.
Once the IGA is executed, participating governments will establish a high-level authority headquartered in Nigeria, convening ministerial representatives from each country to provide political oversight and regulatory coordination. A dedicated project company will simultaneously be incorporated in Morocco as a joint venture between ONHYM and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), taking the lead on execution, financing, and construction. Benkhadra said the project company will mobilize both equity contributions and debt financing, though no final funding commitments have been secured to date.
The development strategy envisions phased commissioning, with initial segments connecting Morocco to Mauritanian and Senegalese gas fields, followed by intermediate links between Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire before the final southern leg reaches Nigeria's gas-producing regions. Crucially, each segment is structured to function as a standalone system, allowing individual sections to come online and generate revenue without requiring a single unified final investment decision. First gas from the initial phases is targeted for 2031. Beyond positioning Morocco as an energy bridge between Africa and Europe, the pipeline is expected to accelerate regional economic integration by expanding electricity generation capacity and facilitating industrial and mining development across West Africa.