How Gas-Driven ‘Keke’ Will Change Transport System in Nigeria’s Commercial Hub
At the heart of Lagos, Nigeria’s thriving economic hub, yellow-painted three-wheeled vehicles jostle for space along the ever-busy roads and streets. For many reasons, these ubiquitous tricycles, known as ‘Keke’ or ‘Marwa’ in the local parlance, serve as the transport engine for most Nigerian cities, including Lagos itself.
Keke drivers can be described as money hustlers. They wake up as early as 5 am and are available until 11:00 p.m., ‘hustling’ for passengers who are heading to their offices or returning home and have no time to wait in queues for buses.
Although a ‘Keke’ is designed to convey only three individuals per trip, drivers often tilt to one side of their seat to make room for one more passenger at the front—an unsafe practice that ‘always-in-a-hurry commuters’ seem not to mind. Aside from its ability to manoeuvre through traffic, squeezing its small body between cars, Keke is one of the cheapest means of transportation within a 9-11 kilometre inner-city route in Lagos. However, the increase in petrol poses a significant threat to this inexpensive means of transportation, as a fare hike caused by the removal of petrol subsidy has been mentioned across different parts of the city. Keke drivers must now find an alternative to petrol if they want to remain the most preferred choice of transportation within these short routes.
A Keke driver in Ikeja, the capital of Lagos, who spoke to Neusroom on the condition of anonymity, starts work as early as 6 am and traverses various routes until 10 pm when he returns home to his family. Although open to alternative cheaper sources of fuel, he has not heard about Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) (cooking gas) or Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) (industrial gas), simple alternatives to petrol.
Before now, he fills his Keke with 10 litres of petrol for 16 hours. This 10 litres, seven months ago, cost him just N2300, and now, with petrol at 610 per litre, without knowing any other form of energy to power his vehicle, he resorts to switching off his tricycle whenever he is stuck in traffic to save fuel.
When asked, “Do you know that cooking gas can power your Keke?” the question sounded alien to him.
And the truth is, he’s not alone. In the mega city of over 20 million residents, with over 5 million cars and 200,000 commercial vehicles, petrol remains the major source of energy, contributing significantly to the 26 million tons of carbon dioxide emission that Lagos, Nigeria’s most populous state, generates.
Another Keke driver in a conversation told Neusroom that he spends between N6000-7500 per day on petrol alone, and he’s not aware that his tricycle can run on cooking gas. Although the Nigerian government had announced in October a project to have cars converted from petrol to gas.
In an exclusive interview with Adeyemi Emmanuel, the Chief Operating Officer (CEO) of Auto Gas Africa at his office at 34 Bode Thomas Street, Surulere, Adeyemi told Neusroom that using natural gas to power vehicles can revolutionise Nigeria’s transportation system.
“You cannot compare gas with petrol because of the environmental impact of petrol,” Adeyemi said.
Although President Bola Tinubu at the 2023 Climate Summit (COP28) in Dubai reassured world leaders about the country’s commitment to cut down on its carbon footprint, the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) by petrol and diesel-powered vehicles is of little concern to Nigerians, a country where 71 million people live below the poverty line of $1.9.
“We recognise the imperative of fostering an environment that not only attracts investment but also upholds standardised and sustainable industrial practices,” Tinubu said.
But Government efforts on a better source of energy for environmental sustainability could be stalled by a lack of awareness about the impact of climate change. A 2020 report shows that more than six Nigerians out of 10 have never heard about climate change. Although awareness of climate change is higher in urban areas than in rural areas, climate change is already taking a toll on the Nigerian economy with over $100 billion lost by 2020 and projected to lose nearly half a trillion dollars by the year 2050.
As other countries plan to achieve zero-emission cars in the near future, in October, the Nigerian government inaugurated the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI) in Lagos with a plan to launch 1 million CNG vehicles by 2027 – an alternative that scientists at the American Petroleum Institute (API) say is more environmentally friendly than petrol.
Adeyemi believes that converting keke and buses powered by petrol and diesel to gas can help achieve healthier air in Lagos – a city ranked as the 4th most unlivable city in the world, according to the Economic Intelligence Liveability Index.
With a simple press of a button, the Keke seamlessly transitions between energy sources, effortlessly switching between environmentally friendly gas and conventional petrol. Photo Credit: Auto Gas Africa
“Gas, particularly CNG, is very clean. You do not have all these fumes and CO2 emissions that are prevalent in petrol and diesel-powered cars,” he insisted.
His company, Auto Gas Africa, a subsidiary of THLD, which started operation in 2016, specialises in the conversion of petrol and diesel-powered vehicles to gas and has been championing the acceptance of gas for automobiles.
With “subsidy gone,” many Nigerians are now grappling with the option of seeking alternative sources of fuel.
Across the country, some Nigerians are already experimenting with the use of gas for their generators. Even Adeyemi, the generator that powers his office runs on gas but can equally run on petrol.
“The beauty of it is that we can convert your petrol or diesel-powered vehicle to CNG or LNG in such a way that it could run alternatively or simultaneously,” he said.
While alternatively designed vehicles can switch to either gas or petrol per time with a press of a button, diesel engines can only be designed to operate simultaneously.
But the price of cooking gas has witnessed a considerable increase in the last few months. Although 1 kg of LPG is currently sold at N950, with 1 kg almost twice a litre (1 kg of gas is equivalent to 1.85 litres), a litre of gas is roughly N500, which is cheaper than petrol.
CNG even offers a cheaper fuel source than LPG. Cleaner and lighter, CNG-powered vehicles can cut the cost by over 78 percent.
“Not only is CNG cleaner, it is cheaper. A Standard Cubic Meter of CNG is sold at around N200,” which when converted to litres equals around N265 per litre.
However, one major challenge of CNG is that it is not readily available in Lagos, with Adeyemi noting that only NIPCO Gas Limited sells CNG in Lagos.
For the cost of conversion, converting petrol to gas depends on the number of cylinders a car has and can cost around N400,000.
But Adeyemi says that drivers are certain to recoup their investment in less than two years as a litre of LPG or CNG will cover the same distance as petrol or even more. Also, running on natural gas implies that car owners will have fewer visits to the mechanics.
“For every fault a car develops, the fault majorly is in the fuel. The petrol you buy is one of the major faults you get from your cars aside from the bad. If you want to check the injector, it is the petrol you are going to check. If you are going to remove the filter, it is the dirt in the filter caused by the petrol,” he said.
With an audacious plan of achieving a net-zero target by 2050-2070, according to the Climate Act 2021 signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari, the introduction of gas-powered vehicles appears to be a step towards cutting down on its greenhouse gas emissions.
