Heads of State of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have signed the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) for the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline (AAGP), marking a major milestone in advancing one of Africa’s largest cross-border energy infrastructure projects.
An intergovernmental agreement is a legally binding framework between participating countries that establishes the governance, legal, regulatory, and institutional arrangements required to develop and implement a multinational project.
The AAGP is designed to transport natural gas from Nigeria to Morocco through 13 Atlantic coastal countries, with interconnections to landlocked Sahel states. The pipeline will also connect to the Maghreb–Europe Gas Pipeline, creating a regional energy corridor with a planned annual capacity of 30 billion cubic meters (bcm), including up to 15 bcm for exports to Morocco and Europe.
The project is expected to enhance regional energy security, expand access to natural gas, support power generation, promote industrialization, and create new economic opportunities across West Africa.
Following the signing of the IGA, the project will move into its next implementation phase, including the establishment of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which will be headquartered in Casablanca, Morocco, and the Pipeline Higher Authority (PHA), the project’s governance body, to be based in Abuja, Nigeria. These institutions will oversee project development, investor engagement, and preparations for the Final Investment Decision (FID).
A final signing ceremony involving Morocco and Mauritania is expected to take place later in Morocco, in the presence of Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The AAGP was initiated under the joint vision of former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and King Mohammed VI of Morocco and continues to receive the backing of the Nigerian and Moroccan governments.
According to the project partners, key preparatory work has already been completed, including Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) studies, route reconnaissance surveys, progress on environmental and social impact assessments, and the development of legal, regulatory, and commercial frameworks.
The project is jointly promoted by Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.), Nigeria’s state-owned integrated energy company, and Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM), Morocco’s national agency responsible for hydrocarbon and mining re
Both organizations reaffirmed their commitment to advancing the project in line with international standards for engineering, environmental responsibility, and corporate governance.
