Juliet Jacob Ochenje
The continuous increase in the price of cooking gas is taking a toll on small businesses as some traders have lamented.
Mr Fado, a vendor at an oil and gas company, Solink Oil and gas station, at Dutse, Abuja, told African Health Report (AHR) on Thursday, that the number of people who used to come and fill their cylinders have reduced.
He said, “Business was good before when they started but now they (the company) are facing challenges.
“We started business last year, August 2022. The market was moving very well then, there were much customers and at that time, gas price was not high, unlike now that gas has increased.
“We started selling at N600 per kg, and the the price increased to N700, and then N800 and now we are selling at N1000 per kg. 5kg is now N5000 and 12.5kg is N12,500 and 50kg is now N50,000 but as time goes on, we are hoping the price will reduce before next year.”
Fado also noted that competition in the business is now high, saying “there are gas plants everywhere now and everyone is looking for where they can buy gas cheaper. But if you want to buy quality, then you will not mind if it’s expensive.
“We are facing challenges because we are not seeing much customers as before when we started. Another thing is the situation of the country, there are no jobs, no money and things are really hard everywhere.”
Miss Ene Emakwu, who runs a fast food business located in Mabushi, Abuja, told AHR that her business was also affected by gas price increases.
“I started this business since last year,” she said, adding that ”everything was moving fine until this year when the new government took over power, that is when everything went bad till now. Then, I used to fill my 12.5kg cylinder for N8,000, now it is sold for N12,100 as at yesterday, Wednesday, 21st November. I had to get a charcoal stove so i can sometimes switch from gas to charcoal but the stress was too much and people around were complaining because of the smoke. Some said they will even report me to environmental if I don’t stop because it causes air pollution.
”I have to keep managing my gas, not minding how expensive it is now, just to satisfy my costumers. I want to stop this business, but I keep telling myself that if I stop, who will feed I and my family?”
