Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) – Nigeria is among the lowest consumers of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in Africa, despite having the highest reserve of the commodity.
Africa’s most populous nation consumes a paltry 30% or 250,000 tonnes, out of the whopping 850,000 tonnes of (LPG) reserved for domestic use last year, the local media Tuesday quoted the Managing Director of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Mr. Haruna Momoh, saying.
The figures translate to a meagre consumption figure of 1.8kg per capita, compared to the West African regional average of 3.5kg.
“There is an urgent need to reverse this trend and join the rest of the world in maximising the benefits of this abundant resources,” Mr. Momoh said, adding that billions of revenue could be saved by Nigeria if the populace embraced the use of LPG, rather than relying on wood and kerosene for cooking.
He said resources spent on kerosene subsidy could be put into more productive areas, such as infrastructure development, education, health and agriculture for the welfare of citizens.
The PPMC boss identified the high cost of cylinders, low public awareness, poor infrastructure, kerosene subsidy and a lack of investment in the value-chain as some of the factors hindering Nigeria’s embrace of LPG.
Even though Nigeria has the highest gas reserve in Africa, over 80% of the population still depend on kerosene and wood for their cooking.
