Boosting Economic Growth: Salutary Liquefied Gas Solutions

Many tend to see economic emergence just in terms of huge or mega development projects. Perceiving the issue from that perspective may in some cases undermine the place of the local population as major actors in the progress of a nation. The resolve for economic growth in a country requires that the people should have access to basic needs so as to contribute their own quota. That would not only mean being able to have health care, education and social amenities like water and electricity. Most, if not all, households in the country need liquefied gas for domestic use. But those in the hinterlands are often side-lined when facilities of that nature are envisaged. It is this neglect that the Hydrocarbons Price Stabilisation Fund (HPSF), or the CSPH in French, has embarked on in the past years.     
Some might not have understood the game-changing nature of the exercise in Kamp Barombi village in Kumba III municipality on 29 April, 2025. It was the laying of the foundation stone for the construction of a Liquefied Petroleum Gas Filling Station. Chaired by the Minister of Trade Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana who was the personal representative of the Prime Minister Head of Government, the ceremony already gave a clue to the significance of the event. With a realisation period of two years for the little over FCFA 7 billion project, the signs are that the initiative is on a good footing. It came after a similar exercise in Ebolowa, South Region on 22 April, 2025. Others in Maroua, Far North Region, Bertoua in the East Region and Bamenda in the North West Region have been on the rail a few years back. These are palpable indicators that the people of Ebolowa and Kumba, like others, have every reason to hope for better days ahead. In the past, they depended on other regions for such a basic commodity. Bringing it closer to them now is of great importance. It not only makes the product available, but there are chances that the cost could be much more affordable since transportation would be cheaper once the plants go operational in the different localities. Significantly, Kumba happens to be the first example of a non-regional capital where the plant has been installed. Following several years of hardship that the people faced as a result of the crises, they now have another opportunity to enjoy the fruits of leaving in a peaceful environment. That also gives the people the chance to collectively defend a project that could bring lots of other facilities to their locality.      
Taking up the project as part of their corporate social responsibility, the HPSF intends to provide liquefied gas and other petroleum products to areas in the country that do not attract major marketers. By saying that the company is out to fulfil the ambitions of the Head of State to ensure an emergent Cameroon by 2035, the Director General of the company, Okie Johnson Ndoh is also taking a key development tool to the grassroots population. For a government structure that has existed since 1974, working towards meeting the basic needs of the people, the present move can only be laudable. Such appreciable projects intended to accompany government policies towards improving the living conditions of citizens are palpable responses to the daily needs of the people. In addition, the company has equally undertaken to implant filling stations in rural communities across the country. No one could better champion the course than the HPSF. Thus, the vision to look for new ways of reaching out to hitherto neglected communities, calls for encouragement and that explains why the Prime Minister Head of Government has been patronising the initiative.     
Beyond the supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to the population in various parts of Cameroon, there is the crucial concern of energy security and environmental protection being indirectly addressed by the HPSF. The consequences of not having the proper approach to enable households meet their energy needs can be enormous. Some statistics indicate that in Cameroon, about 70% of the population use solid fuel for cooking with over 90 % of the figure found in rural communities. Government&rsquo...