Sahara Group has said it is targeting additional $1bn investment in LPG infrastructure.

The company said this during the flag-off of a 16.7 kilometre Ikpako-Ajoki Road project in Edo State by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Enageed Resources Limited, a Sahara Group upstream company and the Edo State Government.

The road project cuts across several oil and agrarian communities, namely Obatan, Evbuorokho, Ajoki, Abala, Kolokolo and Ajamokha, in Ovia North East and Ikpoba-Okha local government areas.

Speaking at the flag-off ceremony, the NNPC Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari, said the road construction was aimed at bringing development to rural communities.

According to him, the company is constructing roads to support communities across the country.

The Executive Director, Sahara Group, Mr Temitope Shonubi, said the road construction would attract development and investment to the communities.

“Today, we are celebrating the dawn of new opportunities, and it is important to also note that the road is not to promote accessibility only but to join communities together and bring development to the area in a sustainable manner,” he said.

Shonubi said Sahara had, in a bid to boost power supply in Ajoki, launched the rural electrification project, an innovative initiative focused on supplying electricity to the community through the conversion of flared gas from the flow station into power using a gas-powered generator.

He said in addition to a reduction in the amount of gas flared in the environment, a new source of clean energy would be provided, directly powering thousands of beneficiaries, including businesses, hospitals, schools, and households in the Ajoki community.

“Sahara Group continues to leverage its robust stakeholder relations and collaboration to positively impact communities where we operate and help create ecosystems that supports shared prosperity through sustainable interventions, he added.

Flagging off the road project, the Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, said the project would provide seamless access to opportunities for the inhabitants of Ikpako and Ajoki communities as well as people from neighbouring states, ultimately opening the axis to sustainable development.

“The road will open up economic activities and development. The road is not just for agriculture activities but also to speed up oil exploration and production,” he said.

Obaseki assured residents in the communities that the funds for the road project was already domiciled in a bank, adding, “This signposts the fact that our coming here today is an indication that it will be completed and not abandoned.”

He added that when completed, it would be joined to the road connecting Gelegele River Port and Ekehuan Road to ease movement and promote development.