THE Nigerian Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association, NLPGA, investors and stakeholders in the liquefied petroleum gas, LPG, industry have discussed how to tap into the over $10 billion investment opportunities that would be unlocked by the national LPG policy unveiled by the federal government. The discussion took place at the NLPGA’s annual chief executive officer’s breakfast meeting held in Lagos.

The meeting brought together LPG producers, marketers, International Finance Corporation, UBA, Sterling Bank and other stakeholders who shared ideas on the investment opportunities that are expected to be created by the national LPG policy and how industry operators could tap into them.

Joseph Eromosele, executive secretary, NLPGA, explained that the overall goal of the LPG policy was to promote the wider use of LPG in domestic activities, power generation, auto gas and industries while increasing national consumption to five million metric tonnes in five years. According to him, over $10 billion can be generated if 50 per cent of the current kerosene and firewood users in the country switch to cooking gas by 2019. This, he added, offered huge investment opportunities for LPG industry players.

“Only five per cent of the Nigerian population utilises LPG for cooking while 56 per cent depends on firewood and 27 per cent on kerosene. Over 30 million households and more than 100 million Nigerians depend on firewood as a source of energy for cooking but this has come with collateral damage to human health, environment through deforestation, and the economy. With the LPG policy, we will be able to drive broader penetration of LPG into homes, especially the low-income households in rural areas.

“Over $10 billion will be generated for the economy from the switch of 50 per cent kerosene and firewood users by 2019.  Estimated 500,000 – 1,000,000 jobs will be created in the LPG value chain within the next two years with the planned Kerosene to LPG switching programme,” he said.

Nuhu Yakubu, deputy president, NLPGA, said the policy also aims to use LPG to displace low pour fuel oil (LPFO) and diesel as popular fuel among industrial users while deepening applications in agriculture and commercial establishments.

“The policy will also promote the use of LPG for off and on grid power generation. It will provide the environment for the use of LPG in the automotive industry with a target conversion of 10 per cent of the country’s vehicle population. These are investment opportunities for industry stakeholders.”

– Nov 17, 2017 @ 16:42 GMT |