Greenland Fati Gold Services Nig. Ltd is the Partner of the Month of July. In this interview, the Managing Director, BintaYahaya shares the activities of her company in the clean cookstoves sector in Nigeria.
Give us a brief introduction about your organisation. What motivated the conceptualization of Greenland Fati Gold Services Nig. Ltd?
Green Land Fati Gold Services Nigeria Ltd was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in 2009 but started clean cookstoves production in 2018 with tremendous patronage from NGO’s, partner organizations and individual distributors. We produce energy efficient quality clean cookstove and fuel called “Fati Stove and briquette charcoal”. Our vision is to empower women and youths through training on energy efficient cookstoves and fuels so that they will become prospective clean cookstoves and fuel sellers. We provide energy efficient cookstoves and fuels in Nigeria so as to contribute to preserving our natural environment from deforestation, promoting healthy living, combating climate change and improving livelihoods.
What does your organization seek to archive in the Nigerian cooking energy market?
Our company seeks to provide solutions to the problem of inefficient cooking. This inefficient cooking with traditional cookstoves causes a lot of ill health and increases the rate of deforestation. We strive to achieve widespread use of our clean cookstoves so as to reduce the problem of inefficient cooking to the barest minimum. That is why we provide both institutional and household multipurpose energy efficient cookstoves and strive to meet the needs of our customers.
Job creation and the empowerment of women seem to be increasingly important. How do your clean cooking activities help drive employment generation and the empowerment of women?
The work force of our company is 65% women. Women empowerment is at the core of our business. We train these women as cookstoves and fuel distributors, while some of them are engaged in the production process and day to day management of our company. Empowering women has led to their improved livelihood which trickles down to their husbands and children.
If you are asked to advise the federal government of Nigeria on policy options, what are the three most important things the government can do to expand the market?
The most important things the federal government can do to expand access to the clean cookstoves and fuel market is to come up with legislation that will support communities to have easy access to clean cookstoves and fuels; and the federal government of Nigeria as a matter of priority should offer technical and financial support to cookstoves producers and promote domestic production of clean cookstoves and fuel so that its affordable to end-users.
If an enabling environment is not created by government, what future risks do you envisage?
If government does not create an enabling environment, sustainability and success of the clean cooking industry will be hampered and fight against climate change will be a mirage. Employment generation through clean cooking industry will be limited.
Where do you envisage your organization to be in the next 5 years?
We envisage to bea well-known firm in the clean cooking space both internationally and domestically.
What risk does your organization currently face?
Our major risk is entrusting distributors with our products to pay back after sales and producing stoves for organisations without having enough take off grant. The major challenge we face is lack of funds. With adequate fund we will move faster to greater height.
What are your suggestions for moving the cooking energy market forward in Nigeria?
To move the clean cooking energy market forward, the government should intensify efforts to make funds available to producers and distributors. The government should support training and provide good legislation that will promote the clean cooking businesses. The government should also ensure there is adequate synergy among all the key stakeholders.
