The policy on promotion of local content in key sectors of the economy may soon result in a ban on importation of gas cylinders into the country. Moves for the ban are now being initiated by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in collaboration with major stakeholders in the oil and gas sector, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Oando Group and Sahara Energy.
We wholeheartedly welcome the planned ban on gas cylinder imports because of the numerous advantages it will afford the country, especially in terms of the jobs that the local production of cylinders will create, and the likely deepening of the utilisation of the abundant gas in the country. In addition, the ban will encourage the development of local cylinder manufacturing technology.
The Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr. Ernest Nwapa, who unfolded the plan at a recent stakeholders’ conference in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, however, said that the ban will be effected as soon as local capacity for the manufacturing of cylinders is fully developed.
Nevertheless, we consider this a worthwhile initiative that should be painstakingly pursued. Considering Nigeria’s huge population and the growing middle class in the country, there is a large market for gas cylinders in the country. We ought to take advantage of this by encouraging more local production of cylinders to meet local demand and for export to waiting markets across the Gulf of Guinea, as indicated by a market survey conducted by the NCDMB.
It is in this regard that we support the setting up of a committee of stakeholders in the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (cooking gas) subsector that will develop a comprehensive strategy to drive the local manufacturing of cylinders as well as address the challenges that could hinder the plan. Currently, few companies engage in cylinder production in the country.
However, when the policy takes off, the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) will support firms that wish to go into gas cylinder manufacturing, while the Bank of Industry (BoI), Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will reportedly provide other enablers for the scheme. Undoubtedly, this will lead to increased use of gas as the preferred fuel for cooking in Nigeria.
At present, a survey has found that only five percent of an estimated 26 million Nigerian families use cooking gas. This initiative, when it comes on stream, will encourage more families to use gas and gas cylinders. About 2.5 million cylinders are currently estimated to be in the country. But when produced locally, the demand for the product will likely increase substantially since the “safe” life of an average gas cylinder is five years.
We urge all the stakeholders involved in this plan to work with unflinching zeal and clarity of purpose. If it succeeds, it can be integrated into the federal government’s much-touted Gas Revolution agenda as well as complement government’s drive to encourage all Nigerians to adopt gas as their preferred cooking fuel, against the current preference of a majority for kerosene cooking stoves.
But beyond this, the ultimate plan should be for Nigerians to have gas directly connected to their homes as it is done in more developed economies. Though this may be a long way ahead, it is a desirable proposition that will save the people the hassles of carrying heavy gas cylinders around, with its inherent dangers.
The plan to ban cylinder imports should not go the way of many other good plans that never went beyond the drawing board. Local manufacturing of the product will help to grow our economy and develop local technology. Let the policy framework that is necessary to achieve this objective be put in place right away. That is the only way to translate the plan into reality. As the NCDMB has rightly said, the plan can only be achieved if local capacity for the manufacturing of the cylinders is fully developed. The time to begin working towards the development of that local capacity is now.
Altogether, the benefits of this plan are such that it should not be abandoned. It is in the best interest of the economy and the people, especially on account of the job opportunities that will come with the domestic production of the cylinders.
