West Africa has jointly backed the construction of the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline (AAGP) between Nigeria and Morocco, which will connect more than a dozen West African states. This project holds significant promise to shift the African gas balance, tipping regional gas geopolitics in favour of specific national interests.
For the first time ever, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), representing the political and economic interests of 12 Western African states, is putting its weight behind the construction of one of the largest gas projects in the world, spanning 6,000km.
The final communiqué of the 69th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government held at Lungi, in the Republic of Sierra Leone, marks the regional organisation has publicly promoted the project.
Defined as “a strategic initiative to strengthen regional energy security, industrialisation, economic integration and sustainable development in West Africa,” the organisation has promoted the signing of an Inter-Governmental Agreement relating to the so-called AAGP.
Map: The African Atlantic Gas Pipeline
Source: Deutsche Welle
In the same communiqué, ECOWAS highlighted in the how the pipeline could “enhance regional connectivity, expand access to energy, stimulate investment, and contribute to the realization of the objectives of the ECOWAS Vision 2050.
The strategy, approved in June 2022, aims to increase the share of renewable energy in the region’s overall electricity mix to 19% by 2030, but also to untap the “huge deposits of extractive resources” available. These include a special mention to gas, oil, and other mineral resources. With the latest statement in support of the AAGP, it is now clearer which of the two legs in the ECOWAS Vision 2050 is stronger than the other.
While the full details of the document signed in Lungi by West African governments have not been made public, hints of what was agreed—and how the AAGP will take shape—come from the main sponsors of the pipeline project. Both the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) welcomed the agreement with press releases that shed light on the operational framework, logic, and policy strategy behind the AAGP project and the Lungi agreement.
ONHYM in particular provided a fresh perspective on the AAGP’s objectives, highlighting its significance not only for West African consumers and producers, but also for European gas geopolitics.
Described as a “transformative regional infrastructure initiative designed to unlock West Africa’s vast natural gas resources, connect them to major demand centres, integrate African energy markets, and establish a strategic development corridor linking West Africa, Sahel Countries, Morocco, and Europe,” the Lungi declaration sounds in the ears of ONHYM as the beginning of the “next implementation phase” of the project.
First and foremost, the Company operating the pipeline (SPV) will be based in Casablanca, Morocco, while the Pipeline Higher Authority (PHA) will be located in Abuja, Nigeria—splitting governance responsibilities between the two primary partners and paving the way for the project’s Final Investment Decision (FID).
Partners have confirmed that the project will span 13 African countries, encompassing both ECOWAS members (such as Nigeria, Ghana, and Ivory Coast) and non-ECOWAS states (such as Morocco and Mauritania). The pipeline will establish a new corridor to market approximately 30 bcm/y of natural gas, with roughly half of these volumes intended for European consumers via Morocco. However, regional gas demand is also expected by project sponsors to drive industrialisation, electrification, and “sustainable employment” across West Africa.
Like the major energy crises of the 20th century, the current crisis originating in the Persian Gulf is serving as a catalyst for unprecedented global changes in international affairs, with energy geopolitics at the center of the shift. West African gas pipeline politics are in full swing amid the renewed escalation of the U.S.–Iran war, which threatens to undermine global energy security.
It is no coincidence that this political statement from ECOWAS comes amid the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz, at a time when European natural gas prices have reached their highest levels since the outbreak of the U.S.–Iran war and their highest point since January 2023.