By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has said that the Federal Government’s adoption of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) offers an opportunity for private sector players.
Edun said this at the unveiling of the 2023 Nigerian Banking Sector Report, with the title
‘Getting Nigeria To Work Again!’. The unveiling, which was organized by Afrinvest, was held in Lagos on Wednesday.
The Minister, who was represented by the Managing Director of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated, Dr. Armstrong Takang, stated that increasing the adoption of CNG will reduce the cost of production for businesses and households. He, however, highlighted that there was a need to increase investments.
In his own words, “when you look at the price of CNG compared to Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) it ranges from half of it and sometimes it comes down to a quarter of what it costs to run on fuel. We believe that given that we are a gas nation and gas is cleaner than PMS, if we aggressively move in that direction, it can have a significant impact on the cost of not only fuelling our vehicles but also fuelling mass transit, as well as factories that run on fuel and diesel. We are taking steps in that direction.
“You will be seeing some announcements in due course in terms of steps that are being taken to trigger a demand in that value chain. There is a lot of investment that has to be done in terms of conversion kits, refueling stations, and the transportation of infrastructure. A lot of investment needs to go into that. We believe that it provides an opportunity for the private sector to partner.”