Freetown, 20th July, 2026 – West African leaders have formally backed one of the continent’s most ambitious energy projects: a 6,800-kilometre gas pipeline linking Nigeria to Morocco, designed to deliver fuel directly to Europe.
At the 69th ECOWAS Summit in Sierra Leone, heads of state signed an agreement giving the project sovereign legitimacy. The pipeline, estimated to cost $25 billion, will eventually connect 13 nations and carry up to 30 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
A new company will be established in Casablanca, Morocco, while a higher authority will be based in Abuja, Nigeria, according to Morocco’s state-owned energy firm ONHYM. Together with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), the developers will mobilize financing and prepare a final investment decision.
First proposed in 2016, the pipeline has gained momentum amid global energy disruptions. From Morocco, it will link to the Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline, connecting directly to Spain. Half of its projected capacity will supply Morocco and Europe, while the rest will serve West African markets including Nigeria, Senegal, and Mauritania.
NNPC’s Chief Executive Officer Bayo Ojulari hailed the agreement as “the essential sovereign foundation to move from a strategic vision to concrete implementation.”
The project also intensifies competition with Algeria, which is advancing its own trans-Saharan pipeline to carry Nigerian gas northward. Algerian authorities confirmed construction began in the country’s south in June.
