Nigerian firm stakes $450 million in Cote d’ Ivoire to boost LPG supply

Sahara Energy Resource Limited, a member of the energy conglomerate, Sahara Group, has staked over $450 million into facilitating the supply of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), to Cote d’Ivoire since 2014 as the nation continues its quest for cleaner cooking fuel options.

Although the 2014 population and housing census (RGPH 2014), in Cote d’Ivoire showed that 78% of households use wood and charcoal as their cooking fuel while 22% use gas, the national LPG consumption has grown from 175KT in 2013 to 380KT in 2019, following increased availability of the butane gas and deliberate policy intervention by the government.

According to 2020 YTD records, Sahara Energy has invested about $84 million to supply 200,578.22MT of LPG to the West African nation. Last week, the Sahara Gas LPG vessel berthed in Ivorian waters discharging 10,000MT of LPG, further driving increased departure from other sources of cooking fuels that pose huge threats to healthcare and the environment.

The Sahara Gas vessel is owned by West Africa Gas Limited (WAGL), a joint venture between Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and Sahara Group. The JV also has the Africa Gas LPG vessel in its fleet. Sahara Gas and Africa Gas have delivered 373,651.22MT and 268,206.22 MT of LPG to Cote d’Ivoire since the inauguration of the vessels in March 2017.

Country Manager, Sahara Energy Resources in Cote d’Ivoire, Olayemi Odutola, said: “Working in collaboration with various stakeholders, Sahara Energy is delighted to be driving access to clean energy in Cote d’Ivoire. This is equally the case across the continent where our LPG vessels play a critical role in ensuring households and communities have a viable cleaner option for cooking and ultimately living healthy lifestyles.”

Sahara Energy is already in a Joint Venture with Petroci Holding towards achieving the construction of a 12,000MT LPG storage facility to increase storage and supply of the product in Cote d’Ivoire. The $43 million project will be executed in two phases, with commissioning scheduled for November 2021, and October 2022, respectively.

Ultimately, the facility is expected to ramp up LPG availability and security by increasing stockholding from 15 days to 27 days, and also boost supply of the product to Cote d’Ivoire’s neighbouring countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea.