Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has called on the federal government to establish energy bank.
IPMAN made the call against the backdrop of the plan by government to promote general use of Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, instead of fuel.
In that light, the government is gearing up to flood the roads with thousands of CNG vehicles (buses and tricycles), 100 electric buses and over 20,000 CNG conversion kits, in addition to encouraging CNG refilling stations and electric charging stations.
However, financially the conversion is not as easy as pie.
This is according to the Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, Chinedu Ukadike.
The latter in an interview with Punchng said it’s financially beyond the reach of oil marketers to install CNG pumps in filling stations across the country, adding that approaching commercial banks for loan is unattractive.
He added that the only ideal situation is for government to come to their aid, saying, “I also believe that there should be a microfinance bank set up by the government to help marketers engage in this venture. We have also advocated for an energy or petroleum bank, just like we have the Bank of Industry and Bank of Agriculture, where marketers can seamlessly obtain loans without any extra charges or high interest rates.”
