TotalEnergies targets low income households with metred gas cylinders

Eric Fanchini, managing director TotalEnergies Marketing Kenya (left) and M-Gas CEO Martin Kimani during the launch. [File, Standard]

TotalEnergies Kenya is eyeing low-income households to grow its cooking gas market share with a new 'pay-as-you-cook' product. The firm has partnered with M-Gas, which will provide pay-as-you-cook smart metres installed on TotalEnergies' LPG cylinders, while TotalEnergies will provide the cooking gas.

This will enable households that may not afford the upfront cost of refilling a gas cylinder to buy cooking gas in small quantities. Users make manageable payments through mobile money to unlock the amount of gas they would want to use.

"This technology enables customers to cook a meal with as little as Sh10 via mobile money payments, addressing the high-cost barrier of purchasing LPG upfront," said the two firms in a statement.

High cost of acquiring gas cylinders as well as refilling them has locked out many Kenyans from accessing LPG and in turn hindered the transition from traditional cooking methods like charcoal to cooking gas, which is cleaner.

The two companies said the product could impact as many as one million people annually in Kenya.

"Through this shared vision with M-Gas, we aim to have a positive impact in Kenya that will not only impact the environment, people's health but also reduce gender inequalities, especially time poverty for women. The partnership is also aligned to the vision by the Government of Kenya of increasing LPG penetration and consumption per capita in the country'' said Eric Fanchini, managing director TotalEnergies Marketing Kenya.

About 400,000 households are currently using the M-Gas solution, impacting over two million lives today in Kenya.

"The partnership with TotalEnergies enables M-Gas to scale our mission of providing an affordable clean cooking solution to households across Kenya.

Leveraging our proprietary smart meter technology and elaborate last mile infrastructure alongside TotalEnergies' extensive supply infrastructure, this partnership will expand our reach to a wider previously underserved market, making clean cooking accessible to more families. Together, we will expand LPG usage to meet national targets and driving transformative change that benefits both people and the planet," said M-Gas chief executive officer Martin Kimani.