The Bank of China and the Chinese export and credit insurance corporation Sinosure have approved a 15-year, US$2.2bn loan to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the construction of the US$2.6bn Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline project, which is due to enter operation in 2023. The Nigerian government is expected to issue a sovereign guarantee to back the loan. The NNPC will provide the remaining 15% (US$400m) to fund the project. The Nigerian company has selected Brentex/China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau-CPP Consortia and Oilserve/China First Highway Engineering Company-CFHEC Consortia as the engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contractors for the project.
The AKK gas pipeline will deliver 3.5 bcf/d (99 mcm/d or 36.1 bcm/year) of gas from several gas projects in the south of the country. In a first phase, it will deliver 2.5 bcf/d (57 mcm/d or 20.7 bcm/year) to domestic customers. Developed by the NNPC using a build and transfer model, the pipeline, which links the south-west of Nigeria to the North, is part the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline (TNGP) project, and the Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline System, connecting Nigeria to Algeria. In July 2020, Nigeria officially launched the construction of the project.