The Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI) is planning to attract $1 billion in investments into Nigeria’s alternative fuel sector by December, 2025.
The initiative’s Project Director and Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Michael Oluwagbemi, who made this known yesterday while speaking with newsmen at the State House, Abuja, expressed confidence that the ambitious investment target is achievable, citing recent progress in the sector.
He said: “We’ve set a goal of about $1 billion of investment for ourselves this year. I think we have made appreciable progress towards achieving that.
“If I just take the 100 additional NNPC investments in daughter stations, that’s close to $50 million, and the $27 million arrested, we’re already close to $100 million in the last one month alone.”
According to him, the continued growth in investment inflows could see the initiative surpass its target, saying, “so if I’m doing about $100 million a month, I think I will be close to $1.2 billion by the end of the year.
“So yes, I think I’m confident we’ll hit our $1 billion goal.”
Oluwagbemi also stated that the PCNGI had secured over $491 million in private sector investments within the last 12 months to boost the Automotive CNG sector.
The PCNGI, launched by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on October 1, 2023, is aimed at facilitating the adoption of compressed natural gas (CNG) and electric vehicles (EVs) in Nigeria, as a response to the removal of fuel subsidies and the rising cost of transportation.
He also provided an update on the initiative’s infrastructure expansion, particularly in the areas of refueling and conversion capacity.
His words: “We have a goal of having 500 conversion centers set up this year. To have a total of 500 conversion centers at the end of the year means an additional 300 are supposed to be set up this year.”
He added that the expected increase in the conversion centers would significantly expand Nigeria’s capacity to transition vehicles from petrol to gas.
“That will increase our conversion capacity from about 65,000 a year currently, to about 250,000 to 300,000 a year at the end of this year. So it will also be a significant boost for conversions,” the CEO noted.
Oluwagbemi also revealed that PCNGI has attracted more than $491 million in private sector investments within the past 12 months.
Describing the milestone as the most important achievement of the initiative to date, he stressed that it followed extensive stakeholder engagement and public awareness campaigns from May to November 2024.
“We have attracted over $491 million of investments in the past year to AutoNG and we are very proud of it. This has created over 9,000 direct and 75,000 indirect jobs,” he added.
According to him, the initiative was not only helping to reduce the cost of living but is also boosting job creation, driving industrial investments, and promoting environmental sustainability.
He said Nigeria’s vehicle conversion capacity had increased dramatically—by almost 3,000 percent—thanks to private sector investments that established more than 200 new conversion centers, up from just seven at the start of the program.
“This has directly employed over 3,000 new technicians as a result of the Conversion Incentive Program,” Oluwagbemi added.
“The Conversion Incentive Program (CIP), which was introduced in response to cost-of-living protests in August 2024, is targeted at converting one million vehicles—primarily public and government-owned—either for free or at subsidised rates.
“So far about 22,000 conversion kits have been delivered, with 10,000 conversions expected to be completed by the end of the current quarter.
“We’ve also expanded the program to allow deep discounts for public servants and will soon launch a financing initiative in collaboration with Credit Corp and public sector unions,” he revealed.
(FROM: THISDAY)
