Over 30 global organisations have signed a petition against the construction of the gas pipeline project that will stretch along the West African coast from Nigeria to Morocco. The project – which is the continuation of the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP), linking Nigeria to Ghana through Benin and Togo – aims to culminate in a gigantic pipeline that will run about 5,000 kilometers from Nigeria to Morocco, with a possible extension to Europe. Furthermore, the organisations pointed out that “the section already constructed WAGP was done without consulting the populations who rejected the environmental impact study". While Nigeria is Africa’s largest exporter of gas and oil, less than half of the population has access to electricity. “In Benin, Togo, an area already served by the WAGP, barely a third of the population have access to electricity,” the petition added.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 27, 2018 07:30 UTC