Rita Adachukwu James, an astute leading businesswoman who founded Merciport Resources Limited in October 2007 in her late twenties, set out with determination to provide real-time energy solutions to customers in the downstream oil and gas sector.
As the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, she combines planning boardroom sessions with timely and efficiently executed operations by providing strategic direction for the business, an LPG solutions champion, while running her women and youth empowerment initiatives, using her not-for-profit vehicle called Shunammite Foundation.
A graduate of agricultural economics from the Prestigious University of Ibadan, Rita James identified a delay gap in the supply chain of the Nigerian downstream oil and gas sector especially to rural and semi-urban areas and she started Merciport Resources Limited to address this problem.
With her canning eye for spotting opportunities Rita James through Merciport Energy Services ventured into under-served communities, and in four years of its operation, the company has constructed three LPG plants to encourage the usage of LPG in low-income areas.
In what ways have you been influenced by your early years of growth?
Growing up for me was quite interesting. I grew up in a large family with seven children, where there was so much love and laughter, especially with my siblings. We had a lot of in-house games, some were mischievous just to get away from our parents, planning mischiefs and how to do ‘stuffs’. Growing up with my siblings was quite fun.
However, my parents were very strict, especially my mum. She has a big personality which leaves zero tolerance for indiscipline. Family life was quite comfortable and education was important to my mum. She made sure we went to the best schools we could afford, whether private or public.
Growing up in Ajegunle (yes, sure the area rings a bell), was one of the eye-opening experiences that shaped my thinking about life. In Ajegunle, I encountered a lot of people who could not go to school because their parents could not afford tuition. Some of them who were very intelligent were my friends.
This struck a chord in my heart and I decided I will start a company where you can get a job with minimum qualifications and educational requirements, where people with basic literacy skills can get a job and build up a career from there. Creating employment became a life goal for me.
Secondly, I found out a lot of people could not start a livelihood or fulfill lifelong dreams due to lack of financial resources. As a result, I used the first profit from my business to create a micro-loan scheme. The passion to support and empower people has influenced my life a lot beyond just giving people money. I have always believed it is not enough to be blessed, one must strive to be a blessing also.
Why was Merciport Resources founded? When you look at when you started and where you are today, what are you grateful for?
First of all, I always wanted to be a giver of jobs. I will not call it an employer of labour. I would rather say a giver of jobs. I always wanted to give people a reason to live because the frustration and depression in life borders around people not having something to look forward to. So, it has been my life goal to be able to create jobs where people can look forward to waking up every morning.
Beyond being a business owner and creating jobs, I enjoyed being a leader, working with people and helping them to fulfill their life and career aspirations, irrespective of their background. An example is a former security guard in my office (6yrs with the company) who has ventured into farming and has enjoyed the full support from the company.
It is my desire that people should maximise their potential and be what they have already dreamed of, this is at the core of Merciport’s existence.
In 2007, at the time I was working for a company, I went to the tank farm/depot. I saw a lot of women who had paid for kerosene from this particular company who were complaining that they had not received the products they had paid for. They could not go inside the depot, as they were uneducated and couldn’t interact with the officials. They were all visibly worried. At that moment, I was so moved to see the frustration of these women, but I also found something I thought was the solution.
So, I thought to myself, why can’t I be that company that people can pay to, since I am educated, I could go to those depot officials, discuss with them and have the products delivered. All I wanted was for the women to have someone with access who could be an open door, someone to speak through. I wanted to be that person that they could find accessible because I could relate with them even though they were uneducated and I could also relate with the depot officials who were educated. That was how I became a ‘go-between’.
At the time, there were few companies buying and reselling petroleum products. This was how Merciport became one of the earliest companies in the space. Given the banks were only giving loans based on business plans and purchase orders, it just became a great opportunity that I found and tapped into it.
What are the challenges of providing real-time energy solutions to customers in the downstream oil and gas sector?
One of the challenges is logistics, moving products from one place to another. In Nigeria, poor road networks and the state of the roads pose huge challenges.
Government policies which have been most unpredictable is also another big challenge.
Access to capital, and yes, there is a lot of funding gap, access to and cost of funds, combined with government policies shot up prices by as much 500%.
What are your responsibilities as GMD/CEO and how do you carry it out?
My responsibilities include articulating the strategic and operational plans for the business, ensuring the cultural values we have are maintained, and being the face and spokesperson for Merciport.
I am able to accomplish these goals alongside a team of dedicated people who share the company’s vision and values. They basically carry out the daily operational activities seamlessly.
Is it more challenging to thrive in the sector as a female? How are you keeping up in a male dominated terrain?
The thing is, where there is a challenge or a problem, no matter your gender, when you bring a solution, the world will listen to you. Sometimes, people try to push you aside because you are female. What I do is I make sure I provide real solutions. I do not seek a pity party. You will thrive as long as you are a solution provider, irrespective of your gender.
Tell us about identifying the delay gap in the supply chain of the Nigerian downstream oil and gas sector, especially rural and semi-urban areas
Identifying delay gaps in the Nigerian downstream oil and gas sector, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas, revolves around navigating the logistical hurdles that hinder timely distribution. Challenges may include transportation bottlenecks, limited storage facilities, and inefficient supply networks. Addressing these gaps demands targeted solutions, such as optimising transportation routes, deploying technology for real-time tracking, and fostering local partnerships for improved storage and distribution. Streamlining these processes can significantly mitigate delays, ensuring reliable access to oil and gas products in these areas.
Improving access to energy in Nigeria, currently at 55%, will require investments in both traditional and cleaner alternative energy. At the moment, the difference in energy access, without considering energy availability factor, between urban and rural areas, is between 84 to 25%. This creates a huge delta in terms of economic activity and economic opportunity available to people. Moving towards closing this energy access divide has been central to our strategy as a company. As we all know, energy is central to economic productivity, and we will continue to invest across the board for the benefit of all Nigerians.
How have you been able to innovate sustainable energy solutions?
We have been able to innovate sustainable solutions by fostering collaboration, leveraging technology, and focusing on renewable resources. We also prioritise research-driven approaches. Embracing a holistic view, the goal has always been balancing environmental impact, economic feasibility, and societal benefits, and ensuring a sustainable energy future for our people and generations to come.
Tell us about Merciport Energy Services and your focus on clean-burning energy sources like LPG and why the choice
My experience seeing people lose family members to cancer have also emphasized the profound impact of health issues arising from the prolonged use of high carbon fuels like firewood. People are not even aware of these risks, and I feel people shouldn’t have to train children, take care of their family almost their whole life and when it seems like reward time, they pass on. I have also always been interested in gas, because it’s a cleaner-burning source of energy. I am very passionate about the environment which stems from the conviction that ensuring clean air and a sustainable environment is imperative for the well-being of our children and future generations. Clean air is very important to well-being. The hurdle is usually in overcoming the cost barrier and the hesitancy and reluctance of individuals to adopt gas as an alternative source of energy. To overcome this, we have engaged in sensitisation campaigns and educated communities on the safety and benefits of using gas.
You have constructed 3 LPG plants in low income areas, where are these situated, why the choice of these areas and what feedback have you received for doing this?
The choice of these areas is firstly hinged on God because I don’t undertake any venture without first asking God for directions and confirming the details from Him. In addition, these locations are situated closer to the supply source so that we could test-run in these places, identify the pros, the cons and devise better ways to scale prior to venturing into other regions. Our vision remains to have our plants in all geopolitical zones.
We have received amazing feedback from the localities. In some areas, LPG use has risen by as much as 50% and these are based on documented data.
Tell us about founding the Shunammite Foundation and impact so far
I’ve always been a people person, humanity means a lot to me. Even before I started Shunammite Foundation, as a younger adult I had this dream to support businesses which led me to start a company called Yeshua Grants with the first profit I made from the business. We provided grants and loans where we supported a business with N10,000. Although the grants enterprise had a brief existence, it ignited a profound passion within me. Through the Shunammite Foundation, our humanitarian efforts have encompassed diverse initiatives since our inception. These initiatives involve educational outreach programs, such as providing books to schools, engaging students in mind transforming discussions, offering grants and scholarships. Notably, we invested over N20 million in our ‘Profitable Labour’ project, focusing on equipping individuals within the community where our office is situated with relevant and in-demand skills in areas like fashion design, makeup artistry, and film production.
As a foundation, continuous assessment and review of our processes have been integral to our foundation’s strategies. Presently, our core focus involves providing scholarships to underprivileged students, supporting their education through university levels. So far, we have been able to send over 100 children to school. Additionally, within the foundation, we’ve established a parent academy aimed at empowering and educating parents, as well as an activism arm dedicated to addressing and preventing incidents of jungle justice within our society. Also, we have an arm working with small businesses within impoverished communities.
What was that daunting situation you felt you would never overcome and you did?
For entrepreneurs, the path isn’t always smooth or linear. Challenges occur that test the durability of business plans and the strength of the business person.
In 2008, a year after Merciport was founded, the entire economy experienced a financial meltdown and banks weren’t funding businesses at the time. Normally, after a loan facility is paid, it is renewed. We became aware that we won’t have access to another loan because banks couldn’t lend at the time.
As an entrepreneur, I have imbibed certain virtues that govern my daily life, my business interactions and relations with partners and investors. Integrity is at the core of my person and I believe that a good name is better than silver or gold.
Complete repayment of the loan meant that there would be no funds to run the business but we decided to choose credit worthiness over bad debt. We received our “big break” when a friend trusted me with a credit line. I took advantage of this opportunity and later on, banks reached out to lend money to us, taking into cognizance my good record and the absence of bad debt.
As a woman from a middle-class background, I don’t have a plethora of family or other connections to readily support me and my business financially. The playing field is of course not leveled and I have to deal with the reality of independence in my business, but I strive to maintain a good name and good business relationships as I build my business and reputation from the ground up.
What do you hope for?
In the foreseeable future, we hope to have plants in all the 6 geopolitical zones of Nigeria. This will bring us closer to the people to be able to influence them towards adopting cleaner burning energy sources such as LPG, and in the future we hope to diversify into more sustainable and renewable energy sources.
At the moment, we want to take LPG to rural areas which are often threatened by the cost of the transition. At the domestic level, this is mainly the ownership cost of cylinders. At the industrial level, this could be the cost of retrofitting current machinery or installing new machinery.
We are hopeful to work with partners who are willing to reach out to the communities whose lives will be enhanced by ownership of cylinders.
Concluding thoughts
Entrepreneurship requires seeing problems as opportunities, and being able to create workable solutions that people will appreciate. However, this is not the way the mind is naturally conditioned. The best way to recondition and develop one’s mind is to delve into books, which I have found to be a way to live several people’s lives, walk in their shoes, and learn from their stories. An entrepreneur must have a positive mind, so investing time in habits that help achieve that is very important. Always remember that with God, you can!
