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Nigeria Approves Proposal for Gas Pipeline Project to Morocco

Gas pipeline project between Nigeria and Morocco (Africa Report magazine)
Gas pipeline project between Nigeria and Morocco (Africa Report magazine)
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Nigeria Approves Proposal for Gas Pipeline Project to Morocco

Gas pipeline project between Nigeria and Morocco (Africa Report magazine)
Gas pipeline project between Nigeria and Morocco (Africa Report magazine)

The Nigerian government on Wednesday approved a proposal for the construction of a gas pipeline connecting Nigeria and Morocco.

Nigeria's Federal Executive Council at a weekly meeting approved a proposal presented by the ministry of petroleum resources and directed the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to execute a Memorandum of Understanding with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for the project, said Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum resources, at a press briefing in Abuja.

Sylva highlighted that the ECOWAS-coordinated project was still in the planning and engineering design stages.

He said the gas pipeline is expected to take gas to a dozen West African countries and Morocco, and through Morocco to Spain and other European countries.

The enormous gas pipeline project between Nigeria and Morocco, whose feasibility study began in May 2017 at a cost of several billion dollars, was inaugurated in 2016 during King Mohammed VI's official visit to Abuja.

The deal was inked on June 10, 2018, during Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's visit to Rabat.

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China, Africa Ask US to Return to ‘Right Track’ on Trade Differences 

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with African officials in the city of Changsha located in southern Hunan province. (Reuters file)
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with African officials in the city of Changsha located in southern Hunan province. (Reuters file)
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China, Africa Ask US to Return to ‘Right Track’ on Trade Differences 

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with African officials in the city of Changsha located in southern Hunan province. (Reuters file)
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with African officials in the city of Changsha located in southern Hunan province. (Reuters file)

China and 53 African countries called on nations, especially the United States, to return to the "right track" of resolving trade differences, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.

The statement came after China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with African officials in the city of Changsha located in southern Hunan province.

The White House, in its April 2 "Liberation Day" tariff announcement, imposed some of the highest tariffs on several African countries. That included levies of up to 50% on goods from Lesotho, 47% for Madagascar, 40% for Mauritius, 38% for Botswana and 31% for South Africa, the continent's biggest exporter to the US.

The China-Africa statement, made on behalf of China, 53 African countries and the African Union Commission said it "firmly opposed any party reaching a compromise deal at the expense of the interests of other countries."

"We call on all countries, especially the United States, to return to the right track of resolving trade differences through consultation on an equal, respectful and reciprocal basis," the statement said.

China is willing to implement zero-tariff measures for the 53 African countries that it has diplomatic relations with, the statement said, apart from Eswatini, the only African country that supports Taiwan.

China's relations with African countries have strengthened as its own economy slows and it has emerged as Africa's biggest lender. In recent years, China has stepped up cooperation in areas from agriculture to infrastructure.

The continent offers a much-needed avenue for Chinese state-owned infrastructure firms struggling for projects as indebted local governments hold off on spending, and as a market for its electric vehicles and solar panels, areas where the US and EU say China has over-capacity.