….Creates mobile app for easy cooking gas distribution

By Prince Osuagwu

One of the major headaches Nigerians are currently going through, apart from the unavailability of cooking gas, is its rising cost. Another is the burden of carrying cylinders about at this time when transportation cost has escaped the common man.

So, the comfort of getting a cheaper cooking gas at the snap of the fingers has eluded many Nigerians.

However, a young software developer, and CEO Cydene Energy Services, Mr Skalid Obi, has proffered a solution to all those unfortunate conditions. His, is that technology can solve all problems if strategically applied. And, as a proof, he developed an application, Cydene Express App, to help Nigerians make efficient use of household utilities even beyond cooking gas.

The app will be unveiled today at Fourpoints by Sheraton Hotel, Victoria Island. It gives users the comfort of purchasing cooking gas at cheaper rates and delivered to them right in their homes.

The idea of the app is to create an energy wallet that serves all households energy needs, taking advantage of energy merchants around them.

Already, no fewer than 10,000 people in the country are said to have embraced the Cydene Express App.

The tech entrepreneur, while dropping the hint of the launch to tech reporters Monday, explained that Cydene Express will not only help households and offices to buy and pay for their cooking gas and other utilities, it will also help them track usage and give useful updates due to the Artificial Intelligence, AI embedded in the app.

The AI configuration of the app will study the pattern of usage of any user and within two days would have understood the dynamics to be able to give up to date prompts that will help a user make decisions about top-ups or outright refills.

Besides cooking gas distributions, from the comfort of their homes users can also buy call credits, diesel and pay electricity and other related bills on the app.

The University of Utah, United States, Software Engineer, said he developed the App following an industry experience he gained while working as an intern in Exxon Mobil and at the Strategy Department in Techno Oil Ltd., Lagos.

He said: “The experience helped me immensely in understanding the Nigerian business environment and how to provide engineering solutions to some teething problems.

“At Techno Oil, I handled dealer’s agreements from station management to product allocations. I quickly realized that the process of product supply is structured in all parts of the supply chain, except to the very end user. So, I decided that if I could automate the process of purchasing and distributing energy products on a retail level, I would have solved a huge part of the problem faced by consumers.

According to him, industry experience also played a big role in his floating and nurturing a data science company, called Cydene Data Solutions, which provides solutions on various energy needs such as diesel supplies, cooking gas, energy tokens and other household needs.