Currently, the price of cooking hovers around N1,000 and N1,300 per kilogramme. Dangote said this would be brought down to ensure affordability.

Operators kick
It appears operators in the LPG market are not pleased with Dangote’s plan to disrupt the sector.

Speaking in an interview with our correspondent, the former Chairman of the LPG and Natural Gas Downstream Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Godwin Okoduwa, described the plan as monopolistic.

Okoduwa expressed concern that the billionaire businessman should recognise the fact that some investors grew the market from 70,000 metric tonnes in 2007 to over 1 million metric tonnes in 2022, saying collaboration is the way to go.

“I think it’s monopolistic. I think a market should be protected to encourage growth. The LPG industry in Nigeria grew from 70,000 metric tonnes in 2007 to over 1.3 million tonnes in 2022. That was done by collaboration — collaboration with the Federal Government, the NLNG, and offtakers. Everything was done in collaboration. It grew from 70,000 to 250 to 800, and now over a million,” Okoduwa said.

He stressed that growth cannot be achieved through a monopoly but through collaboration.  “Today, we are just under 5kg or 6kg per capita consumption in terms of LPG. Other countries are doing much more. South Africa is doing double digits, Morocco and Tunisia are doing double digits. We can do much more.

“So, we should, as an industry and as a country, focus on how to grow the LPG industry and not allow someone (to frustrate the players). Yes, he has invested; yes, it’s a capital economy, but he should not be allowed to frustrate the players.

“There are people who have spent money, spent resources, even business and development, and someone just comes in to reap from the work that has been done. I’m sure he wouldn’t have built if there had not been an existing market. The work has been done, he should respect the market and let us grow. It shouldn’t be a zero-sum strategy. It should be collaborative,” he said.

In his recommendation, the gas expert said that though Dangote has the upper hand, he should embrace collaboration.

“My advice to him is that the pie can be bigger. The Nigerian market is about 1.3 million tonnes. The Nigerian LPG market can be 5 million tonnes. He should work towards collaboration rather than competition, because at the end of the day, everybody benefits,” he added.

Told that Dangote’s major concern is to bring the price of cooking gas to a rate where everybody can afford it and stop cooking with firewood, Okoduwa retorted, “I have news for him. He should go to the Northeast, where you have the least consumption of LPG. He should go to the Northeast and start developing the LPG infrastructure there. I think we will tell him thank you for that.”

Similarly, the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, Bassey Essien, doubted the possibility of Dangote selling gas directly to consumers or to crash the price.

“I am saying that it’s unrealistic. What is the position with PMS? Has the refinery been able to sell petrol directly to you and me into our cars at a very cheap rate?” Essien asked.