In a recent agreement spearheaded by Nigeria and Morocco, a deal was signed to build an offshore gas pipeline that will connect over 13 West African countries and parts of Europe. It will take nearly 20 years to complete, but will help improve the economies and natural resource supplies of all the countries involved. The pipeline has been in the works for over half a decade, and has finally started to come to fruition after meticulous planning and an increased need for other sources of energy in Europe due to the Russia-Ukraine war. Nigeria has been the largest proponent of this project, and idealized it back in 2016 in hopes of turning its abundant Natural Gas resources into another source of revenue for a country that is facing one of its worst economic situations in years.
While this project likely would’ve happened eventually, it seems to have been fast tracked due to the events in Eastern Europe. After Russia invaded Ukraine, many European countries completely cut ties with them, which has become a problem in recent months. A vast majority of Europe imported energy and natural gas from Russia, and with that source now gone and few alternatives, they have faced rising energy costs across the board. While the pipeline is in no way an immediate fix, the long term implications are incredibly important to these European countries who are looking to diversify their energy imports, in the hopes of avoiding energy crisis in the future.
Link to article: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/nigeria-and-morocco-sign-mou-on-5-600-kilometers-gas-pipeline-project-271663323811