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By Adewale Sanyaolu
The Global LPG Partnership (GLPGP) and the African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA) have unveiled a $1.5 billion investment aimed at revolutionising clean cooking in Nigeria and across Africa.
The funding initiative seeks to accelerate the shift to LPG as the primary cooking fuel, reducing the continent’s dependence on traditional biomass fuels.
The GLPGP-ARDA program will focus on bolstering infrastructure, enhancing distribution networks, and funding consumer education to ensure broader access to LPG. This strategic effort is poised to foster sustainable cooking practices and improve health and environmental outcomes across the region.
This comes on the heels of the African Energy Week (AEW): Invest in African Energy 2024 – scheduled for November 4-8 in Cape Town – with a session titled, Towards the Elimination of Energy Poverty: LPG Value Chains for the African Clean Cooking Crusade.
With approximately 900 million people in Africa still lacking access to clean cooking technologies, the session will explore how investments in LPG and distribution can catalyze energy security in Africa.
The session will also provide an overview of innovative financing tools applicable to LPG markets, with insights from industry experts including Spark+ Africa Fund’s Partner and Investment Director Peter George; LPG Association of South Africa’s (LPGSA) Managing Director Gadibolae Dihlabi; and Oryx Energies’ Managing Director Pam Indurjeeth.
The LPG serves as a vital solution for improving access to clean, affordable and reliable energy in Africa, and recent advancements across the continent aim to bolster the penetration of LPG in domestic markets.
The International Energy Agency which declared 2024 as the year for achieving universal access to clean cooking mobilized $2.2 billion in public and private sector funding during a summit in Paris this year.
The financing supports the adoption of clean cooking solutions such as LPG and accounts for half of the continent’s financial needs to achieve universal access.
In addition to energy access, progress is being made to boost capacity building across the LPG industry.
Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have partnered to enhance LPG accessibility through the National Human Capacity Training Program for the Adoption of LPG.
This initiative, led by Saudi Arabia’s Oil and Sustainability Program in collaboration with Nigeria’s Ministry of Petroleum Resources, focuses on developing micro-distribution points in Nigeria’s Edo State and establishing training facilities for local communities.
The program aims to increase LPG availability while reducing health risks associated with burning wood or coal for cooking. This partnership is part of Nigeria’s broader strategy to reduce reliance on biomass and promote cleaner cooking solutions.
Additionally, the potential of carbon credits and climate finance to drive growth in Africa’s LPG sector will be evaluated, with government policies analysed for their role in accelerating the development of sustainable LPG ecosystems.
