Nigerian Minister Onyeama Discusses Agreements Made With Morocco

PERSISMA, Casablanca — In an official government video posted on Twitter, Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama talks through the various bilateral agreements signed between Morocco and Nigeria, noting the importance of the proposed trans-African pipeline and the upping of Nigeria’s fertilizer production.

Important negotiations between King Mohammed VI and Nigerian President Muhammad Buhari began today in Abuja following the monarch’s arrivalon December 1. The king arrived on Thursday accompanied by Moulay Ismail as well as a large delegation of Moroccan ministers.

Today, Moroccan leaders discussed various bilateral agreements with Nigeria, adding to the 83 others already signed by the sovereign in Rwanda, Tanzania, Senegal, Ethiopia and Madagascar.

In a video posted by Nigeria’s official Twitter account, Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama talked over the main pathways to cooperation between the two countries.

On the construction of a trans-African gas pipeline, which was confirmed today, Onyeama says that it “would go along the coast from Nigeria all the way up to Morocco and into Europe eventually,” adding that the 4000km pipeline is a “very big and important project” for Nigeria.

In regards to fertilizers, Onyeama implies that while Nigeria is rich in gas and urea, it could really benefit from Morocco’s riches in phosphates. Nigeria, says Onyeama, would like to “produce fertilizers at a much more affordable rate, so there’s a lot of cooperation there to achieve that.”

Nigeria has been somewhat lagging behind in fertilizer consumption. “At about 20kg fertilizer usage per hectare,” says The Guardian, “Nigeria lags behind countries like South Africa and Egypt that use over 100kg/hectare.”

Clean energy is also a priority for the two nations, especially following the COP22 climate change conference, which took place last month in Marrakech. Morocco and Nigeria, Onyeama says, will work together “towards a green bond […] to push investments in clean energy.”

In total, the foreign affairs minister says there should be approximately 15 agreements signed between both countries by the end of King Mohammed VI’s visit. (Ghita Benslimane )