ECOWAS Endorses Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline Agreement

West African leaders have unanimously endorsed a landmark agreement to advance the construction of a major gas pipeline linking Nigeria to Morocco, a project aimed at bolstering regional energy security and creating a new export route to Europe. The intergovernmental agreement was signed by member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Sunday, July 19, 2026, during the bloc's 69th Ordinary Session held in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

The proposed African Atlantic Gas Pipeline, also known as the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline, is estimated to cost between $25 billion and $27 billion. It is planned as an approximately 6,800-kilometer conduit that would traverse 13 countries along Africa's Atlantic coast. The pipeline is designed to transport up to 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from Nigeria's vast reserves, with about half of that volume destined for Morocco and onward connection to European markets via Spain.

Officials described the signing as a critical step that moves the long-discussed project from a strategic vision toward concrete implementation. Nigeria's Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, called the...