A research paper from the Policy Center for the New South stated that European interest in the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project is due to the region’s pursuit of diversifying gas sources, in light of the global energy crisis.
The paper, authored by researcher Jamal Machrouh, explained that the huge project will reduce the risks of European countries’ dependence on Russian gas, by moving towards unconventional energy sources, which will contribute to reducing global climate impacts.
The research center continued that the gas pipeline between Rabat and Abuja will additionally prevent total dependence on Algerian gas, pointing out that Europe does not want to replicate the Russian scenario on the African continent, and therefore does not want to concentrate its imports in the hands of a single African supplier.
The researcher said, in this regard, that “it would be a strategic mistake for Europe to have one country dominate its imports of gas from West Africa,” noting that “the gas pipeline project between Nigeria and Algeria will already expose Europe to more shocks and political risks.”
The Moroccan-Nigerian gas pipeline is also receiving growing interest from the European Union, given the opportunities it will provide to rebalance its strategic status as a buyer.
The highly anticipated project will grant a positive impetus for achieving economic integration in the West African region, while reinforcing the continent’s sufficiency for gas.
The paper found that “West Africa will constitute a huge consumer market for European economies after the construction of the gas pipeline project,” noting that “Europe will benefit from an important consumer market that includes more than 400 million people, which will encourage investments in the region.”
The Moroccan researcher added that the project will enable the restructuring of Africa-Europe’s position in the world, by reconsidering the determinants of bilateral relations that are governed by geographical, political and cultural factors, stressing that the project constitutes an opportunity for Europe to implement horizontal, mutually beneficial and balanced economic dynamism.
Morocco and Nigeria announced this colossal and ambitious project in 2016, to link natural gas wells in Nigeria to Morocco through several countries.
In 2018, the project entered a new phase with the signing of bilateral cooperation agreements. Since then, Nigerian authorities revealed that many third party countries expressed their interest in investing in the promising countries pipeline.
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