NAIROBI, KENYA (CWBN)_ The competition among the players in the East Africa’s Liquid Petroleum Gas market is expected to grow with Stabex International’s entry into the LPG market.
According to modest estimations, the LPG usage has a growing market size of about 83 per cent and 89 per cent in Kenya and Uganda respectively.
As of now, the customers in both markets extensively depend on unhygienic sources of energy such as firewood, charcoal, and paraffin as LPG is unaffordable because of the initial high cost.
As reported by local newspaper The Standard, in a statement Stabex International announced that it enters the market with its Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) brand in Kenya and Uganda, making use of a distribution network in its existing retail petrol stations.
The company now joins the market, competing with other major players in the petroleum industry that have already established their LPG brands aiming to expand the market share in the almost unexplored regional cooking gas market.
LPG is recommended under the Sustainable Development Goals for cooking purposes as it is an environment-friendly, clean source of energy, improving clean air households.
“At Stabex, we see this as a huge opportunity in both countries and are aligning our penetration strategy with the ‘UN Sustainable Energy for All Initiative’ whose goal is to have one billion more people cooking cleanly with LPG energy by 2030” said Head of Supply and Business Development, Mr. Benson Mwangi.
Our strategic sales teams will now focus on opening up new markets for LPG in rural areas through affordability programs. A set of other strategies will help us compete for footfall in urban markets with other gas brands to grow market share,” says Mwangi.
According to projections, with the entry of Stabex as a major player, cooking gas market is expected to expand by 6 per cent in three years. According to the national bureau of statistics, Kenyan LPG market had up to 300,000 metric tonnes of LPG demand with an annual supply of 170,000 metric tonnes.
The company would come out with innovative affordability and customised solutions to enable customers to reduce the initial equipment cost for new LPG, particularly in rural East Africa.
Edited by Elishya Perera
