A project begun in Nigeria in 2020 under President Muhammadu Buhari has reached a major milestone. It was announced on Dec. 27 that the main line of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline—the foundation leg of the Trans Sahara Pipeline—had been completed. “We have been able to successfully complete the welding of the main line of the AKK gas pipeline,” Nigerian National Petroleum Co. Ltd CEO Bayo Ojulari told the Premium Times, adding that the major challenge had been to cross the Niger River, which it did last summer.
The significance of the development is twofold. First, it brings much-needed energy to the relatively poorer northern sector of the country. Already planned is the construction of a power plant at each of the urban areas, plus energy for fertilizer plants and more. Second, this 600 km segment—which is now completed to within 100 km of the border with Niger—fulfills Nigeria’s 1,100 km domestic segment of the 4,128 km Trans Sahara Pipeline, which will one day carry Nigerian natural gas through Niger to the Mediterranean border in Algeria.
The AKK also runs parallel to Nigeria’s “central line” of their SGR rail line—major segments are already in service—forming the central spine of a national development corridor.
