West African leaders formally endorsed the Nigeria-Morocco Atlantic Gas Pipeline on Sunday, signing off on a 6,000-kilometre project that will run along the Atlantic coast of up to 14 nations. The agreement was sealed at an Economic Community of West African States summit in Freetown, Sierra Leone, capping roughly a decade of negotiations since the project was first proposed in 2016.
Construction is expected to begin in 2028, with first gas deliveries targeted for 2031. The pipeline is designed to carry 30 billion cubic metres of gas annually, serving an estimated 400 million consumers across the region. Estimates of the total cost range from $25 billion to $27 billion, depending on the source.
The pipeline would link Nigerian gas fields to Morocco, potentially positioning the North African country as a gateway for West African energy exports to European markets.