Unreliable electricity keeps Nigerian small businesses tied to petrol and diesel generators, and the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry says tax breaks and cheaper loans would speed clean energy adoption.
LCCI President Leye Kupoluyi made the case at the chamber’s Eko Gas Scheme 3.0 event in Lagos, themed around affordable clean energy for small and medium-sized enterprises. He said unreliable power pushes businesses onto generators, exposing them to volatile fuel prices, high maintenance costs and production disruptions, especially manufacturers, food processors, cold-chain operators and hospitality firms.
Kupoluyi said clean energy adoption depends on affordability, access, awareness and, above all, safety.
The five asks
Kupoluyi laid out five priorities. The chamber wants dedicated financing windows, run through government, development finance institutions and banks, for solar, battery storage and gas conversion equipment. It wants more investment in gas gathering, processing and storage, and shared energy facilities such as mini-grids in industrial estates and markets. It also wants regulators to coordinate better on pricing, licensing and standards, in what he called a “predictable regulatory and commercial environment.”
The fifth ask is fiscal: tax incentives, accelerated capital allowances and lower import costs for qualifying clean energy equipment, battery systems and energy-efficient machinery, including parts not competitively available locally.
Gas as the bridge
Much of the discussion centered on gas. Abubakar Folami, a past chairman of the chamber’s LPG group, said switching from petrol or diesel to LPG, CNG or LNG can cut energy costs by 35% to 50%. The figure is based on the group’s own tests. Different gases suit different users, with trucks better served by CNG or LNG. “The best use for micro businesses is LPG,” he said.
Cost is the biggest hurdle, he said, along with safety, funding and price volatility. Small firms are not asking for full grants. They want help co-investing, such as matching 5 million naira of their own money with 5 million naira in cheap loans.
Free cylinders, and a lesson
The chamber’s LPG group will hand out 100 free cylinders with accessories to restaurants, bakeries, food vendors and caterers. The scheme dates to 2012. An earlier phase with the Lagos State government distributed 20,000 cylinders across 57 local councils, but without monitoring, so nobody could track how they were used. A 2022 phase focused on women-led micro food businesses and tracked usage, and a 2024 report found it satisfactory. The new round will be annual, with monitoring built in.
Safety was a theme throughout. Jacqueline Addy, who chairs the LPG group, urged beneficiaries to pay attention to proper equipment, ventilation, storage and regular inspection. The reports reviewed show no government response to the chamber’s requests yet.
