The problem we saw, and the solution we're building

Every energy-access pitch deck opens with the problem. Most stop there. We've spent the last 18 months in rural Kwara turning the diagnosis into a working delivery model — and we've learned that the gap between "people need LPG" and "households actually use it" is not technological. It's logistical, financial and human. Here is what we found, and what we are building in response.

The problem, in four dimensions

1. Firewood is the default — and it's quietly devastating

Roughly 70% of Nigerian households outside the major cities still cook primarily with firewood or charcoal. In Kwara LGAs like Patigi, Edu and Baruten the share crosses 85%. The hidden costs:

• Time: 4–6 hours per week per household collecting wood — almost always shouldered by women and girls.
• Health: indoor smoke is one of the leading causes of respiratory illness in Nigerian children under 5.
• Environment: deforestation across the central middle-belt has accelerated as urban charcoal demand has grown.
• Cash: households still spend ₦1,800–₦3,500/month buying supplemental wood when collection runs short.

2. The formal LPG market chases the wrong customer

Most Nigerian LPG operators have, rationally, gone after urban affluent households — fast turnover, low default risk, easy logistics. The result: Lagos has 8× the LPG plant density per capita that Kwara has, and 12× that of Niger and Kebbi states. The federation's last 30% has been written off as "uneconomic" — even though we're finding it's exactly the opposite when the model fits.

3. The 12.5 kg cylinder is the wrong format for entry

A new 12.5 kg cylinder costs ₦18,000–₦25,000 plus burner and regulator — ₦35,000–₦65,000 to start cooking on gas. For most rural households that's two to three months' discretionary cash. The gas itself is affordable; the gateway is not.

4. Distribution is broken at the last mile

Even when households want gas, the second refill is the killer. If the nearest plant is a 90-minute round trip on a bad road, households quietly stop using LPG within three months. The first-cylinder excitement evaporates against the second-refill friction.

The technology is solved. The market is willing. What's missing is the channel — and the channel is what we're building. — FahmanEnergy founding note, 2024

The solution — four pillars, one channel

1. A solar-powered 10MT refill plant

Our Ilorin plant is NMDPRA-licensed, SON-approved and runs its compressor and pumps off solar — which removes the diesel exposure that makes most rural plants uneconomic when the grid fails. The plant is the anchor; everything else is built around getting cylinders from here to households who couldn't reach a Lagos pricing structure.

2. Last-mile distribution kiosks + motorcycle riders

We don't ask households to come to the plant. We place a small refill kiosk in the centre of each agro-cluster town (Ilesha Baruba is our first; Patigi and Babanla are next), and pair it with a motorcycle rider who serves the surrounding villages on a fixed weekly route. The second refill is the test we are designed to pass.

3. Starter cylinders at 3 kg and 6 kg

Pilots beginning Q3 2026: a ₦4,500-deposit 3 kg cylinder that gets a household onto gas in a single market-day's earnings, then a ₦9,000-deposit 6 kg, then graduation to 12.5 kg as the household builds confidence and disposable cash. The format meets the household where they are, instead of asking them to leap.

4. Pay-as-you-cook financing

Pilots Q4 2026: a low-friction credit line that covers the cylinder deposit + regulator + burner, repaid over 6–9 months from the cash savings households will book once firewood spending drops. We are partnering with two microfinance institutions to underwrite the receivable and one mobile-money provider to handle collections.

Why we lead with cooking — and what comes next

Cooking is the loudest, most measurable, most cash-on-delivery energy problem in rural Nigeria. Solving it earns us the trust, the route maps and the customer relationship to ship the next product through the same channel.

From 2028, that next product is solar electricity. The cylinder route is also the panel route. The kiosk operator who refills your gas this month is the same person who will quote you a 200W home system in eighteen months. The household that took our gas-credit will repay it on time, then qualify for a solar-credit. We are not a "gas company" or a "solar company" — we are a last-mile clean-energy distribution company, and the cylinder is just the first product through.

Where we are today

• 1 NMDPRA-licensed plant operational in Ilorin (10MT throughput)
• 1 branch + kiosk network launched in Ilesha Baruba (Baruten LGA)
• 800+ households served as of Q1 2026, with 91% repeat-refill rate among trained customers
• 3 LGAs surveyed for the next-wave kiosk rollout (Patigi, Babanla, Kishi)

If you are working on the same gap from a different angle — as an investor, partner, regulator or community organisation — write to us at Fahmanltd@gmail.com. The channel is the work. The more shoulders against it, the faster it gets built.