Morocco has opened talks with the US Export-Import Bank and the World Bank to help finance the Africa-Atlantic Gas Pipeline, a 6,800-kilometer project estimated to cost $26 billion, Bloomberg reported.
The pipeline, which would run from Nigeria to Morocco, cleared a key political milestone on July 19 when ECOWAS heads of state formally backed the project.
Attention now shifts to securing the capital needed to move from planning to construction, slated to begin in 2028, with first gas flows expected in 2031.
Morocco’s ambassador to Washington, Youssef Amrani, described the pipeline to Bloomberg as one of Africa’s most ambitious infrastructure projects currently in development, adding that energy disruptions linked to the Iran conflict have reinforced the case for a route carrying African gas to Europe.
The pipeline, led by Morocco’s ONHYM alongside Nigeria’s state oil company NNPC, is designed to carry 30 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
The pipeline would help promote energy security in West Africa. Half pipeline gas would supply Morocco’s domestic market, with the remainder available for export toward Europe, positioning Rabat as a major beneficiary rather than a mere transit country.
