King Mohammed VI, accompanied by Prince Héritier Moulay El Hassan and Prince Moulay Rachid, and President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, presided on Sunday at the Royal Palace in Rabat, the signing ceremony of three bilateral cooperation agreements, including a on the strategic project of the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline.
On this occasion, Farouk Garba Said, Director General of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and Amina Benkhadra, Director General of the National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM) delivered an address on the content of the joint declaration between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the completion of the next phase of the Regional Gas Pipeline strategic project connecting gas resources from Nigeria to West African countries and Morocco.
Thus, they pointed out that the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project was conceived during the state visit of King Mohammed VI to Nigeria in December 2016, noting that a gas pipeline cooperation agreement was signed in Rabat on May 15 2017 and commits both parties, NNPC and ONHYM, to jointly sponsor a feasibility study and FEED for the Nigeria Morocco Pipeline Project.
“The Nigerian and Moroccan parties have worked effectively and constructively to ensure that the feasibility study for the pipeline, which is the first phase of this strategic project, is carried out by the contractor in a professional manner and in accordance with best practices. they assured, noting that “several routes have been evaluated so far. The first is an offshore route, the second is an onshore route along the coast. While the third is a mixed route.
The two officials said that “for economic, political, legal and security reasons, the choice was made on a combined onshore / offshore road”.
“The pipeline is approximately 5,660 km long and its CAPEX has been defined,” they continued, noting that construction should be phased and meet the growing needs of the countries and Europe over the next 25 years.
On this occasion, Farouk Garba Said and Amina Benkhadra highlighted the multiple contributions of this strategic project, notably the regional collaboration between Morocco, Nigeria, Mauritania and the ECOWAS countries in order to promote the trade and development in the mutual interest of the countries, the integration of the economies of the subregion in accordance with the objectives of NEPAD, the reduction of the “flaring” of gas and the diversification of energy sources, the contribution to the fight against desertification using gas as a reliable and sustainable form of energy in the subregion and wealth creation and poverty reduction by opening up economic growth opportunities in the sub-region.
And the two officials added that both parties seized the opportunity of the Summit between King Mohammed VI and President Muhammadu Buhari to agree on the move to FEED, the next step in this ambitious project.
During this stage, it will be a question of involving the crossed States and the ECOWAS, by signing memorandums of understanding, to validate the volumes available for Europe by the Majors in Nigeria and by NNPC, to start the discussions with the Turtle field operators off Senegal and Mauritania, and approaching European customers who are the most important potential Off-takers.
Among the planned actions, it is planned to refine the estimates of investment and operating costs, to finalize the economic analysis on the basis of volumes and construction assumptions finalized and to start discussions with the international banks. to test their willingness to finance this project, and to prepare the preliminary documents.
Farouk Garba Said and Amina Benkhadra also stressed that the two Heads of State insisted on the need to take fully into account the ecological and environmental dimension in the various stages of the Project.
This project will give Africa a new economic, political and strategic dimension and place Morocco and Nigeria as two leaders of South-South Cooperation at the level of the African continent, they assured.
And to conclude that given its strategic importance and benefits, not only for Nigeria and Morocco, but also for the countries crossed by the Pipeline, NNPC and ONHYM confirm their joint commitment to carry out this project.
Subsequently, King Mohammed VI and the Nigerian President presided over the signing ceremony of three bilateral cooperation agreements.
The first agreement is a joint declaration between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the completion of the next phase of the Regional Gas Pipeline strategic project connecting gas resources from Nigeria to West African countries and the West Bank. Morocco. It was signed by Amina Benkhadra and Farouk Garba Said.
The second document signed is a memorandum of understanding between the Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP SA) and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority for the development of an industrial platform in Nigeria for the production of ammonia and ammonia. derived products. It was signed by Mostapha Terrab, Chief Executive Officer of OCP S.A and Uche Orji, Managing Director of Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority.
The third agreement is a cooperation agreement in the field of agricultural vocational training and technical supervision between the Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests, and the Nigerian Ministry of Agriculture. agriculture and rural development. It was signed by Aziz Akhannouch, Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests and Audu Ogbeh, Nigerian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
These agreements, which aim to strengthen the legal framework governing cooperation between the two countries, are in line with the royal vision for a South-South partnership acting in solidarity.
This ceremony took place in the presence of the Head of Government, the King’s Councilors, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Minister of National Education, Vocational Training, Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Minister Delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, in charge of African Affairs, the Secretary of State to the Minister of Energy, Mines and Sustainable Development in charge of Sustainable Development, as well as as members of the official delegation accompanying President Nigerian.