A working meeting at the level of energy ministers of member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), dedicated to the unique African Atlantic Gas Pipeline project (Nigeria-Morocco), has started, Friday in Abuja, with the participation of Morocco.
The Moroccan delegation participating in this meeting is led by the Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Ms. Leila Benali, accompanied by the Director General of the National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM), Ms. Amina Benkhadra, and the Moroccan ambassador to Nigeria, Moha Ouali Tagma.
This meeting, to which Mauritania was also invited, aims to adopt the intergovernmental agreement on the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline (Nigeria-Morocco) which will be submitted for signature by the Heads of State of the ECOWAS member countries, of Morocco and Mauritania.
Organized by the ECOWAS commission, this joint meeting of Ministers in charge of Energy and Hydrocarbons, extended to the Ministers in charge of Hydrocarbons of Morocco and Mauritania, was preceded by a meeting of sectoral experts.
The meeting is part of the statutory process of adoption of community texts at ECOWAS. The subjects which will be brought to the examination and adoption of the Ministers in charge of Hydrocarbons concern the Draft Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) concerning the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline (AAGP) and the Draft Agreement with the Host Government (HGA ) concerning the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline (AAGP) annexed to the IGA.
The Abuja meeting comes after a regional workshop to review and validate the Host Government Agreement (HGA), organized from October 8 to 11 in Lagos, Nigeria, following many rounds of negotiations of the provisions of the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) and the Host Government Agreement (HGA), organized in Rabat, Marrakech and Abidjan. The organization of these working meetings and regional workshops on the draft Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) and the draft Host Government Agreement (HGA) is part of the strategic African Atlantic Gas Pipeline project, launched following the visionary initiative of His Majesty King Mohammed VI and the former President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari, and supported by the current Nigerian President Bola Tinbu. These meetings provide the opportunity to finalize the provisions of the draft texts of the IGA and the HGA, following the comments and recommendations shared and discussed by the different countries crossed by this Gas Pipeline.
It should be emphasized that the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) and the Host Country Agreement (HGA) constitute key documents which define in addition to the rules governing the legal relations between the States Parties, the rules of governance of the project, the relations contractual agreements between these States and the project investors.
Remember that the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline project aims to stimulate economic development and facilitate access to energy sources for the countries it passes through, but also to strengthen South-South cooperation between these countries in accordance with the strategic vision of His Majesty the King. Mohammed VI for sustainable and integrated energy development in Africa, particularly on the Atlantic coast.
Since the launch of the project following the initiative of the Sovereign and the former President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari in December 2016, several important stages have been completed, including the signing of MoUs between Morocco, Nigeria and the other states crossed , in addition to the finalization of the technical studies crucial for the development of this project.
