Nigeria’s key stakeholders have demanded for urgent realization of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project saying it is a potent master plan to spur the country’s industrial and economic development.
In a discussion on the economic impact of the AKK gas pipeline project, petroleum industry players, private sector and regulatory agencies called upon the government of Nigeria to accelerate the full realization of the AKK gas pipeline project scope in order to provide the critical infrastructure for industrialization.
The panelists who participated in the Valuechain business webinar suggested that the full realization of the project should fall within the next 18 months in order to pave way for the kick-off of the second phase of the Trans-Nigeria gas pipeline.
Stressing the role of gas in economic growth and development, panelists pointed out that economic boom and industrial vibrancy in Lagos State was due to abundance of gas flowing through robust distribution infrastructure to industrial clusters.
According to the stakeholders, the AKK gas pipeline project will create abundant investment opportunities including jobs in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG), petrochemical and fertilizer plants, and captive and embedded power production.
READ: Nigeria launches massive gas pipeline project
Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, recently launched the 614-kilometer Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project in a meeting conducted virtually. The US$ 2.6 billion project, is a build-and-transfer Public-Private Partnership (PPP) that will be built by two Chinese companies, Messrs Oilserv/China First Highway Engineering Company and is expected to be completed in two years.
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has however assured the concerned panelists of a timely realization of the project stating that a presidential inter-agency project management team is diligently working with other stakeholders to overcome all probabilities of failure.
According to Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the completion of the project will also facilitate the revival of declining industries and the development of new ones on the pipeline’s transit towns.
The federal government of Nigeria is optimistic that upon completion, the pipeline will help boost industrialization in Nigeria as well as create employment and foster electricity generation.
