The gas pipeline mega-project linking Nigeria to Morocco, and subsequently extending to Europe, is attracting particular interest and attention from analysts and investors.
Aptly named the Gas Highway, this project can be considered the largest of its kind in the world. In terms of the volumes of gas it is likely to transport, the distance over which it extends, the number of countries through which it will pass and which it will supply with gas, the global population that will benefit from it, the estimated cost of its realization and its expected economic, social and geostrategic impact once completed. It's understandable, therefore, that a project of this scale cannot be carried out without encountering difficulties and obstacles, especially of a technical nature.
Nord Stream 1 took 15 years to complete
Since the project was launched in Abuja by HM the King and the Nigerian President in December 2016, followed by the signing of a related agreement by the two Heads of State on June 10, 2018 in Rabat, there have been a series of technical meetings between officials from the two countries and multiple consultations with the financial community and potential investors. Today, everyone agrees that this project is reliable and feasible. The fact that the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is contributing 15.5M$ to finance technical studies, and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) is providing 14.3M$ for the same purpose, shows that we are dealing with a serious project that is moving in the right direction. We simply need to give it time.
When you consider, for example, that the construction of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline linking Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea took 15 years from the date of its launch (1997) to the date of its actual commissioning (2012), covering a distance of 1,200 km, it's easy to see how long it will take to build the Morocco-Nigeria gas pipeline. The pipeline is over 3,000 km long, much of it offshore, and will cross no fewer than 11 countries: Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Gambia, Senegal and Mauritania. With the exception of Mauritania, all the other countries, along with Nigeria, are members of CEDAO (Community of West African States). An important clarification.
According to initial estimates, this project will cost in the region of 30 MM$, and will undoubtedly have a number of economic, political and geostrategic implications.
African integration needs concrete action
On the economic front, it will help to energize an entire region of Africa through the multiplication of wealth-generating and job-creating industrial activities. In addition to this collective gain, which is of interest to all countries, Morocco and Nigeria, as project sponsors and leading partners, will undoubtedly benefit further by consolidating their economic relations and developing joint ventures in a number of fields. Nigeria will be able to make better use of its natural gas resources, which, along with oil, constitute its main source of wealth. It is number one in terms of reserves in Africa and ranks 7th worldwide. This will result in a diversification of its activities and an improvement in the income of its population, which exceeds 200 million. Morocco will gain by ensuring its energy security through diversification of its sources of supply, and by meeting its growing energy needs to support its economic development.
In political terms, such a project would give a boost to African integration, starting with the strengthening of CEDAO, to which our country aspires to belong. African integration is not achieved through pompous speeches and honeyed declarations, but through concrete achievements and structuring projects. The case of the EEC (European Economic Community, now the European Union) is edifying: this community was created on the basis of the ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community). Gas and phosphates would play for Africa the role played by coal and steel for Europe. It is this economic integration of the continent that would give meaning to political integration, and help member states to move beyond quarrels that only retard the continent's development, and focus on common challenges.
In geostrategic terms, the African continent, which today has a population of 1.4 billion, i.e. 18 % of the total population, will see its population double by 2050, and alone account for 25 % of the world's population. This human wealth, combined with the varied and abundant natural resources of the African soil, predispose the continent to play a strategic role on the international stage. To achieve this, we need to give priority to South-South cooperation in order to generate sufficient synergies, to be able to weigh in on the international arena and to play an active part in the establishment of a new international order that is taking shape on the horizon. The world is on the verge of profound changes that could lead to a new redistribution of the cards and a new configuration of the balance of power. Events are set to accelerate over the next few years. And it's time for the continent to get ready, so as not to miss out on history yet again. At a time when globalization is being called into question in favor of regionalization, Africa has no choice but to follow suit. In so doing, it will become a credible player on the international stage, and will be able to influence the course of events. It will do so successfully by following the democratic path, breaking the bonds of dependence on the former colonial powers, and relying above all on the collective intelligence and creative genius of the African people.