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Nigeria and IFC in talks on national gas pipeline

2 December 2013

In mid October the federal government of Nigeria announced that it has begun talks with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private sector arm, for the funding of a national gas pipeline network aimed at connecting gas fields in the south of Nigeria with power plants and industries in the north of the country. The pipeline will also provide the foundations for the trans-Saharan gas pipeline that aims to export Nigerian gas to Europe, adding to concerns that the Bank`s gas investment in Nigeria is neglecting the energy needs of local communities (see Observer Autumn 2013). Friends of the Earth Nigeria stated in October that “it is unacceptable that while our country suffers from significant energy deficiency, we would be anxiously taking loans to build pipelines to supply gas to Europe which has already achieved energy sufficiency for their peoples and economies.” The financial and technical assistance support for the pipeline project, with an estimated cost of $5 billion, is expected to commence within the next six months.