$100m southeast gas pipeline project takes off

A $100 million gas distribution pipeline project by the South East Development Commission (SEDC) to boost industrialisation, attract investments and create jobs in the region has kicked off.

The 400-kilometre pipeline, designed to connect gas resources to industrial and commercial centres across Enugu, Anambra, Imo, Abia and Ebonyi States, has about 150 potential customers identified, with projected demand of 254 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.

The Federal Government signed the investment agreement at the South-East Gas Infrastructure Investment and Project Development ceremony in Enugu.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, represented by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, described the project as a strategic investment that would connect the region's natural gas resources to industries, strengthen manufacturing and unlock economic opportunities.

“The Southeast's entrepreneurial spirit is one of Nigeria's greatest economic assets. I have always believed that the prosperity of the Southeast is inseparable from the prosperity of Nigeria,” the President said.

He said the project aligned with his administration's commitment to building an integrated regional economy, stressing that gas infrastructure should support industrial development across state boundaries rather than serve isolated markets.

“Gas infrastructure must therefore serve industries and markets, not stop at political boundaries. That is the economic logic of regional integration,” he said.

The President said the pipeline would benefit manufacturers in Aba, strengthen industrial clusters in Nnewi and Onitsha, attract productive enterprises to Enugu, expand agro-processing and manufacturing in Ebonyi and connect Imo's gas resources to the wider regional economy.

He described the South-East Development Commission (SEDC) as an institution established to deliver measurable development outcomes, urging it to assess its performance by the investments it mobilised, infrastructure it enabled, opportunities it created and lives it improved.

The President said the South-East Vision 2050 development framework, supported by Vice-President Kashim Shettima and the Governors of the region, provided a foundation for coordinated economic growth.

He also cited his approval of the South-East Investment Company as part of efforts to attract private capital into strategic development projects, noting that governments could not finance every development ambition from public funds.

He urged the commission and its partners to uphold commercial discipline, transparency, environmental responsibility, community engagement and the highest safety standards throughout the project's implementation.

Enugu Governor Peter Mbah described the signing of the investment agreement as the commencement of the investment process, adding that the initiative would help realise the region's aspiration for a common market and coordinated industrial development.

Mbah, who said he was excited that the project was advancing less than 13 months after he publicly advocated the idea, praised the commission for adopting an innovative financing model that brings governments and private investors together.

He said the project would create opportunities for young people to build their futures in the Southeast rather than migrate to other parts of the country in search of jobs.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of SEDC, Mark Okoye, said the commission was targeting aggregate regional investment participation of up to $30 million, including its initial $3 million commitment, as part of efforts to mobilise the private capital required to advance the project.

He said the initiative aligned with the commission's industrialisation programme and its commitment to developing infrastructure that would benefit the entire region.