Firm to invest $2.4b on 80 million clean cooking stoves

One of the leading clean cooking stove companies, BURN Manufacturing has disclosed plans to commit $2.4 billion in Nigeria to meet its goal of producing 80 million stoves in the country.

Chief Executive Officer, BURN Manufacturing, Peter Scott, who spoke in Abuja, lamented that over 600,000 women and children die yearly from indoor air pollution due to inefficient stoves and climate change.

Scott stated that the stoves being produced by the firm reduce indoor air pollution between 60 and 100 per cent.

“For certain parts of the country, people cannot afford or access LPG. In the short term, we are providing a fuel-efficient bio-mass stove, which allows them to save money, lessen trips to the forest, and eliminate indoor air pollution.

“Over time, we will roll out more products like subsidised LPG through carbon credit. We have a briquettes stove that utilises agricultural waste and an agricultural waste stove that utilises agricultural waste.”

Scott said the company has launched wood and charcoal stoves that allow customers to use between 40 and 80 per cent less fuel, which has a huge benefit to the climate, people and forest.

“We currently have over 3,000 employees and make half a million units per month on the continent and have installed capacity that will grow to a million units.

Scott further explained that the company was in Nigeria to solicit a letter of authorisation, negotiate with ECOWAS on how to bring the products to countries and work with the Federal Ministry of Trade to stop counterfeits.

He said the letter of authorisation would enable the company to raise a potential $2.4 billion investment, which would allow them to make discounts on stoves.

Scott said that the Federal Government has made a substantial commitment to rolling out clean cooking stoves to the population, adding that their goal is to work closely with the government to roll out 80 million clean cooking stoves.

Speaking on carbon credits, Scott said, the company plans to leverage on investors in exchange for the future value of those carbon credits, as a means to bring down the cost from $40 to $5 per unit.

On whether the company sources its raw materials from Nigeria, Scott said, “We make stoves with stainless steel and unfortunately, we buy raw sheets of metal from China and process them into finished goods in Africa. Our factory in Kano makes about 35,000 stoves a month and capacity for 100,000 stoves per month.

“At the moment we have invested tens of millions of dollars in a Kenya factory and plan to replicate the same in Nigeria, as well as create thousands of jobs in design, distribution, manufacturing, carbon credit, business, and market research.

“People still have this idea that if you want to make cheap products, you go to China. But we can make better products at lower prices in Africa and ship to Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam,” he added.