The 15-member ECOWAS is negotiating for a loan of 1.5 billion dollars with the World Bank and other donor organizations for a regional gas pipeline project, Nigeria's The Punch newspaper reported Friday.

The Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) has already secured a 350-million-dollar facility from the World Bank,the organization's Executive Secretary Mohamed Ibn Chambas said Thursday of the long-delayed West African Gas Pipeline Project (WAPP).

The WAPP, which is to link Nigeria, Ghana, Togo and Benin to a 600-km pipeline utilizing Nigeria's abundant natural gas resources,was supposed to have started in 2003 but was delayed due to lack of fund.

Currently, the first pipes for the construction of the infrastructure have arrived in Tema, Ghana, while gas is expected to start flowing from the pipeline in December 2006.

Chambas said the 350 million dollars was used to support the implementation of critical WAPP generation, transmission and system control infrastructure in the 2005-2010.

The remaining amount of about 1.5 billion dollars is required for the full implementation of the recommendations of master plan for the project, he added.

Source: Xinhua