President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has flagged off the MT Iyaloja (Lagos), a 40,000 cubic metre Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) carrier built for West Africa Gas Limited (WAGL), reinforcing Nigeria’s pledge to drive clean and sustainable energy development across Africa.
Tinubu, represented by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, commended WAGL Energy Limited, NNPC Limited, and Sahara Group for their “strategic foresight, technical excellence, and unwavering dedication to expanding Africa’s role in the global clean energy value chain.”
Group chief executive officer of NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari, represented by the executive vice president, Gas, Power and New Energy, Olalekan Ogunleye, said the vessel would play a critical role in advancing the economic impact of gas in Nigeria.
“NNPC Limited is proud to be a major shareholder in this indigenous company, which in addition to the newly commissioned MT Iyaloja (Lagos), owns four other LPG vessels in its growing fleet, delivering over six million metric tons of LPG across West Africa in the last five years,” Kyari said.
Chairman and executive director of Sahara Group, Temitope Shonubi, said the company’s expansion demonstrated its vision of “responsibly bridging Africa’s critical energy infrastructure gap.” He added, “The addition of MT Iyaloja (Lagos) embodies the spirit of progress and empowerment championed by the iconic Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, whose legacy we honour.”
WAGL’s managing director, Mohammed Sani Bello, disclosed that the company planned to expand further within two years with the acquisition of a Small Gas Carrier and a Very Large Gas Carrier. “We are dedicated to expanding our integrated supply network across the entire energy value chain,” he said.
The commissioning was marked by a ribbon-cutting ceremony performed by the Iyaloja-General of Nigeria, Alhaja Folasade Tinubu-Ojo. With the new addition, WAGL’s fleet capacity now stands at 162,000 CBM, making it one of West Africa’s largest LPG suppliers.
