Oando revs up cleaner energy campaign

Despite having a considerable amount of gas reserves, Nigeria, compared with other countries with similar resources, is currently underutilizing Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in households.

Recent research has shown that only 1.7 per cent of target households use LPG as primary cooking fuel and Nigeria’s yearly per capita LPG consumption is currently more than 3kg below West African averages.

In its efforts to promote clean cooking in Nigeria, Oando Marketing Plc, has initiated several programmes to ensure the utilization of LPG in Nigeria homes.

One of such initiatives is the collaboration between the company and Association of Micro Finance Banks to provide soft loans for low-income households in Nigeria to purchase LPG or cooking gas.

According to the company, switching millions of Nigerians from biomass to a clean, efficient, affordable and sustainable LPG using Oando’s OGAS 3kg cooking stove, has become a priority.

According to the Head, Marketing Communications at Oando Marketing Plc, Seun Adeosun, the use of LPG by the low income group has been hindered primarily by affordability and accessibility.

He said to address the issue, Oando introduced a portable 3kg cylinder to suit the purchasing power of this socio-economic group.

He disclosed that the O’GAS cooking stoves are directly available to end-users via the company’s existing vast network of over 500 retail stations and a growing network of authorized distributors.

“Oando Marketing through selected Microfinance Banks (MFBs) is developing a tertiary network of retailers that ensures that O-GAS stoves are available within 10 minutes of every end user. To fund the MFBs, OMP created a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) called the Clean Cooking Fuel Initiative Limited, (CCFI) to provide on-lending debt capital. The SPV will be funded by Oando and other investors and managed by Alitheia Capital; an Asset Management firm specialized in impact investment”.

He disclosed that the company has also introduced the yearly “Teen Can Cook” initiative, which is organized to encourage the cooking skills of secondary school students, while they understand and embrace the culture of cooking with clean cooking fuel, LPG as growing adults.

Adeseun explained that the Teens Can Cook Competition was conceptualized to cultivate culinary skills in teenagers and equally encourage the use of LPGs in Nigerian homes.

Also, the company recently distributed LPG Cooking Gas stoves to women entrepreneurs in Ipetumodu area of Osun State week. The women who are in the famous business of frying beans cake (Akara Osu) along Ibadan-Ife Expressway turned out in their thousands to receive the Oando team recently.

Adeseun said that Oando was motivated “to embark on this initiative first to alleviate the sufferings of the women who are exposed to health problems arising from the use of firewood in frying their “akara” as well as ensuring a switch from the use of firewood to a cleaner and safer fuel, which is LPG”.

He stated that over the years, the women have been renowned for their trade, popularly called “Akara Osu”, but that they have over the years been exposed to sufferings and poor health resulting from inhaling smokes from firewood. “We at Oando have looked at the health issues associated with the use of firewood and sufferings of these enterprising women and have decided to give back to this community by initiating this social benefit scheme as part of our corporate social responsibility”.