African Atlantic Gas Pipeline opens financing talks with US EXIM and the World Bank

Morocco’s ambassador to Washington confirmed the discussions to Bloomberg on 25 July, six days after ECOWAS heads of state signed the intergovernmental agreement in Freetown. Construction on the 6,800km route is expected to begin in 2028, with first deliveries targeted for 2031. The estimated cost is $26 billion.

Morocco has opened financing discussions with the Export-Import Bank of the United States and the World Bank for the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline, Morocco’s ambassador to Washington, Youssef Amrani, confirmed to Bloomberg on 25 July. A spokesperson for EXIM has separately confirmed preliminary discussions about potential support for the project.

The talks follow the signature six days earlier of the intergovernmental agreement governing the pipeline, concluded by the heads of state of the Economic Community of West African States at the bloc’s 69th ordinary session in Freetown. The document gives effect to a decision taken in Abuja in December 2024 and establishes the legal framework international lenders require before committing.

The line would run roughly 6,800km along the Atlantic coast from Nigeria through 13 countries to northern Morocco, where it would meet the existing pipeline linking Morocco to Spain, with interconnections planned to reach landlocked Sahel countries. Built largely offshore, it would be the longest underwater gas pipeline in the world. Design capacity is 30 billion cubic metres a year, of which up to 15 billion is intended for Moroccan and European markets and the balance for West African regional demand.

ONHYM and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company will establish a jointly owned project company in Casablanca, the vehicle that raises the financing and carries the pipeline to a final investment decision. A Pipeline Higher Authority seated in Abuja handles governance, bringing together ministerial representatives from each participating country. Morocco and Mauritania are not ECOWAS members and will sign at a separate ceremony in Morocco, in the presence of the President of Nigeria.

The engineering is further along than the financing. ONHYM and NNPC say the main engineering, environmental and technical studies are complete, with front-end engineering design finished and route reconnaissance surveys finalised. Construction is expected to begin in 2028 and first deliveries are targeted for 2031.

At $26 billion the project would be, in African Energy’s assessment, the largest single energy investment ever made on the continent. The package is expected to combine sponsor equity, sovereign support, multilateral lending, export-credit guarantees and commercial debt. Sierra Leone’s president Julius Maada Bio, who hosted the summit, told delegates in Freetown, “Don’t be surprised when the gas comes your way.”