Africa Atlantic Gas Pipeline: A Model of Regional Integration

Natural gas is an abundant transition energy source on the continent, cleaner than coal and capable of supporting the industrial development of local economies. Several countries in the region, such as Nigeria, Mauritania, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, possess significant reserves.

The pharaonic Africa Atlantic Gas Pipeline project aims to better leverage these resources and position the region as a net energy exporter. The realization of this project, for which several decisive milestones have already been laid, involves about fifteen countries and therefore requires perfect coordination between the various stakeholders.

Meeting this challenge is no small feat. From this perspective, the pipeline already stands as an example of cooperation and integration at the regional level, potentially replicable in other structuring projects on a regional scale.

“The challenge is to develop infrastructure and build balanced partnerships. In this perspective, the pipeline illustrates the convergence of ambitions. It sits at the crossroads of energy, connectivity, and cooperation,” summarizes Mohammed Benzaria, Director General of Onhym Midstream Co (OMCo), a 100% subsidiary of Onhym in charge of natural gas transport and storage.

The main challenge addressed has been coordination over more than 6,000 km of route, with technical, environmental, etc., studies conducted in 13 countries. “To achieve this, we proceeded with the signing of agreements with all the traversed countries. This allowed for harmonizing requirements and aligning methodological approaches,” explains the CEO of OMCo.

He does not fail to recall the scale of the project: the pipeline will cross 13 coastal countries and 3 landlocked Sahel countries over nearly 7,000 km. Within Morocco, it will interconnect with the Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline (GME), and via that, with the European gas network. Its capacity will be 30 billion cubic meters of gas, of which 18 are destined for export.

Its Capex is on the order of 25 billion. Of this amount, 20% concerns the logistics component alone. The pipeline is also designed to eventually transport green hydrogen, which will play an important role in the global energy transition.

Decisive Stages Already Passed

“Exemplary” coordination between the various project stakeholders has already enabled the passing of decisive stages for its realization. “The engineering studies are finalized. The route is validated (about a dozen MoUs have been signed with ECOWAS and the traversed countries).

The surveying for the on-shore route in Morocco, from Dakhla to the Ouezzane region, where the Atlantic pipeline will connect to the GME, is also completed. The same is true for the offshore surveying for the Dakar-Dakhla segment.

Those for the route between Nigeria and Senegal are underway,” details Benzaria, who emphasizes that the various signed MoUs have allowed the deployment of an exceptional logistics setup to conduct studies on land and at sea.

Furthermore, the official indicates, the EPC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) package is already finalized. A request for expressions of interest will be launched to initiate the tender process soon, he stated, clarifying that an informal market sounding was conducted and “significant” interest was expressed by potential bidders.

That covers the technical part. The political challenge remains to be converted. “The next step will be the signing of the intergovernmental agreement. It is a document that will be initialed by all the heads of state, which will pave the way for the effective start of construction.

It will be signed very soon, depending on the agendas of the heads of state.” This agreement, to recall, has already been approved by all ECOWAS member states during its December 2024 summit.

Regarding the actual construction of the pipeline, a segmented approach has been favored. The first, in the south, will link Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire; the central segment will extend from Côte d’Ivoire to Senegal; and the northern segment will link Senegal to the Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline (GME), connected to the European network.

“Each segment is defined to be ‘self-supported,’ meaning it has its own business case and can be realized independently of the other segments,” specifies the CEO of OMCo. To oversee the works, a project company is about to be established. Structured as a holding, it will have stakes in subsidiary companies.

Each of these will be responsible for each regional segment, finalizing its design, and starting its construction. At the current pace, a first injection of gas into the initial segments of the pipeline is planned for 2030.

Regarding financing, the choice of a “Project Finance” structure for each segment has been selected for the majority of the route, except for the 200 km segment connecting the GME to Mohammedia, which falls under the gas plan of the Ministry of Energy Transition and will be done as a PPP.

“For the rest of the project, the strategy is to organize financing in the form of structured ‘Project Finance’ with a debt portion and an equity portion, backed in terms of revenue by transport contracts between molecule owners and consumers.

The idea is to minimize public money participation. This is a project that will be financed by the market, by the private sector, and built by the private sector,” explains the head of OMCo.

The Pivotal Logistics Role of Dakhla

The pipeline is a structuring opportunity for the traversed territories, and notably for Dakhla, set to host the land entry point of the pipeline and one of its compression stations, positioning the Saharan city and its future port as a major energy hub in West Africa.

Furthermore, Dakhla will be the true strategic and logistical pivot of the Gas Pipeline during its construction. Thus, for the first segment linking Senegal to Morocco, the works, as well as logistics coordination, will be organized from Dakhla, which will play a central role in operations.

“It is in Dakhla that we will receive the pipes to be installed at sea between Morocco and Senegal. It is also in Dakhla that the various operators and workers in charge of the works around the compression station will be prepared and located,” Benzaria informs us.

Ultimately, this mega-project goes far beyond establishing an energy corridor. It demonstrates Africa’s capacity to deliver strategic infrastructure, compliant with the most demanding international standards in terms of security and reliability.

Beyond its energy importance, the pipeline will also structure new logistics corridors, strengthen the connectivity of Atlantic Africa, and create major opportunities for regional value chains.