Emanating from the clear-sighted vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI and the former President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, and supported by President Bola Tinubu, this project has a truly strategic scope, insofar as it will contribute to accelerating access to energy for countries in this African sub-region, given that some countries have an electrification rate of less than 40%, Ms. Benkhadra said in a statement to MAP, on the sidelines of the work of a regional workshop to review and validate the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) and the Host Country Agreement (HGA) of this project (August 27 to 30).
“This flagship project, which symbolises the relevance of South-South Cooperation, will contribute to economic and social development, in particular through the development of different industries, notably the mining sector, given the significant mineral resources in the countries crossed,” explained the official.
After indicating that these countries need sustainable energy to be able to develop, Mrs. Benkhadra explained that the implementation of this project will contribute to sustained growth and job creation and thereby, will be a factor of stabilization of young people in this sub-region of the Continent.
For Ms. Benkhadra, the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline project will also contribute to greater integration of this African sub-region, deploring the fact that Africa remains the least integrated continent at the global level, even though any integration is, without a doubt, a source of growth and development.
This is why, believes Ms. Benkhadra, beyond a simple transport and energy access project, the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline (Nigeria-Morocco) remains a major project that will guarantee this part of Africa political, economic and social stability, and will also contribute to greater energy security not only in Africa but also between this continent and Europe.
And Ms Benkhadra continued that the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline will also allow gas to be exported to Europe and, as such, will be an element in reducing European dependence on natural gas from its other suppliers, by allowing a diversification of supply sources.
On another note, she welcomed the holding in Abidjan of this workshop dedicated to the examination and validation of the IGA and HGA of the Gasduct project, recalling that this working meeting is part of the progress of the strategic project of the Morocco-Nigeria gasduct.
“Today we are meeting in Abidjan in Ivory Coast at the level of experts from the thirteen countries concerned by this project to finalize the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) or treaty which must be signed by all the States and the HGA which is the governmental agreement between a country and the project company,” she noted.
“We are delighted with the presence of experts and representatives from all of these countries crossed, which shows their willingness and commitment to contribute to the execution and completion of a project as strategic and structuring as the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline (Nigeria Morocco),” she said.
After emphasizing that the IGA is a fundamental part of the development of this type of major cross-border project, in the sense that it will set all the conditions for the management and governance of the project between all the countries crossed, she recalled that this intergovernmental agreement has been prepared for more than a year between ONHYM and NNPC and has been the subject of several workshops in Rabat and Marrakech throughout 2023 and 2024.
In conclusion, she noted that today, thanks to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which is fully involved in this project, “we are practically in the final stages of exchanging with all the countries crossed, represented by their experts, representatives of their energy ministries and national companies.”
2024-08-30 12:58:30