Bassey Adie is the Managing Director of Loyz Energy and Logistics Services Limited and also a director in other companies. She is a graduate of Law from the University of Buckingham, and holds a diploma in Business Strategy, Sustainable Business Development and a certificate in Leadership Principles from the prestigious Harvard University, as well as many other professional qualifications.
She is a member of the Institute of Directors and has almost a decade worth of experience to leverage on in the oil and gas/maritime industry. Bassey has worked on key security and infrastructure development projects worth millions of dollars and has been integral in its execution.
Her strengths as a seasoned business strategist is evident, as she was once listed as a nominee for the 25 under 25 inspiring Nigerians in 2017. She is also a member of the following organisations, International Bar Association; Chartered Management Institute; the Energy Institute; Women in Energy Network (WIEN); Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN), Women in Management and Business and Public
Service (WIMBIZ), Nigerian Gas Association and Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
Bassey is the founder of She Matters Nigeria which is an online platform focused on victims of domestic violence and abuse.
Excerpts from Margaret below;
Q. So, what’s Loyz up to these days?
A. Loyz is an indigenous oil and gas support company with interests in Gas and Marine. As a new company, it was extremely important to evaluate the whole value chain, to determine how we could key into the sector, and most importantly add value and solve some of the challenges faced within. One that is peculiar to most homes in Nigeria is the fear of running out of cooking gas. We formed a partnership to design and create an LPG smart metering device in 2018 which has the ability to monitor consumption and prompt users on consumption levels so they never have to run out of gas. As the minister of petroleum resources launched the decade of gas as 2020-2030, it was important for us to play within the gas sector as that indeed is the future of energy transition in Nigeria.
Q.Aren’t there similar solutions around already? What really sets it apart from the rest?
A.When we started in 2018, there weren’t solutions like this, however, the market was not ready at the time for our solution. With a high rate of internet penetration in Nigeria at 39% compared to 25% in 2018, there is no better time for our solution. Of course there may be other similar solutions that exist as there’s no monopoly of knowledge or information- one critical thing I learnt is to focus on doing the best you can and people would always be attracted to the added value. In summary – our clients can rely on us and never have to worry about running out of gas. Our solution completely eradicates this worry as well as do other functions that are beneficial to our customers and differentiates us from the rest.
Q. What sort of savings or benefit does this solution. offer a user?
A.Great question, the main benefit our solution offers is time savings. The time it would take to order a new gas cylinder to your home would be completely eradicated as our solution would monitor your consumption and cylinder refill can be pre-scheduled. People can sit in the convenience of their home and use their mobile device to purchase gas in advance.
Another one is price – because we intend to partner with the LPG retailers, we are able to provide the best price at any given time subject to market rates.
Quality – before our device, one wouldn’t be able to see the level of LPG delivered per cylinder (in the case excluding composite cylinders) however our device measures the volume of gas and this is key during Re -delivery to ensure one gets what one has paid for. Another important thing to mention is that our device has an automatic shut down feature in case of gas leakage, preventing any possibly hazard.
Q. Being a woman, what’s your guiding philosophy in business and how did you come about it?
A. My guiding philosophy in business was revealed to me during my time in business school and inspired by a great motivational speaker. It is
“Investors are people, businesses are run by people, direct or indirect customers of business are people, if you don’t understand people you don’t understand business”.
What this means to me is as a leader it is not just a rank or title, it is a service to people. Our investors are people – they expect good returns and proper governance structure in the business; this means the business ought to be profitable and operate within clear guidelines.
Our employees are people – they expect the right work environment for them to be their best at work as they are our greatest assets. You can’t achieve structure, standards and process in a business without having the right people adhere to them and take ownership of it without being coerced. Our clients are people either directly or indirectly- they expect a quality service which should be guided on our core principles of integrity, professionality, reliability, trust, respect and results orientation. Therefore, we understand all our stakeholders needs and are able to plan adequately to meet and exceed their expectations of us.
We formed a partnership to design and create an LPG smart metering device in 2018 which has the ability to monitor consumption and prompt users on consumption levels so they never have to run out of gas.
Q. From your standpoint, what’s the most limiting factor to women in marine and oil businesses? What’s your solution to it?
A. 3 years ago – I would have jumped at this question and said funding. However thanks to NCDMB/NEXIM bank for the Women in oil and gas $40m intervention fund. This indeed is a challenge of the past. Once you meet the requirements of the fund, you can access it.
The only challenge I see is the opportunities available; especially in the maritime sector. A few years ago before NCDMB came on the scene in full effect – indigenous ownership of marine assets was about 10% or less as majority of the contracts issued had leased vessels on TC. With the great policies implemented by NCDMB and the push for indigenous participation by various initiatives this number has significantly increased to 40%. Nonetheless majority of the beneficiaries are male owned businesses, so as a woman on the scene you are faced with an environment where there are owners of assets whose investments need to be protected to yield returns and also the task to play your part to truly diversify the vendor’s value chain. The first limiting opportunity would be you do not own any assets so some companies may not even want to consider you for an opportunity. Without the opportunity, how can you grow to the state of owning an asset like the others as financial instituons would require a viable contract to provide the support for asset acquisition?
Without the opportunity how can the sector be truly diversified to ensure more women- owned companies have a level playing field? The contract opportunity in the past coupled with the commitment and support from NCDMB with various initiatives accounted for this growth in indigenous ownership of assets. Nonetheless in the last Women in Oil and Gas conference, this issue was raised and I trust the ministry of petroleum resources is looking at it closely as now is the time for action.
Q. What’s your take on work-life balance?
A.Cultural background and perception has promoted the myth that serious people need to have a certain profile, look a certain way or behave in a particular manner. One thing Covid 19 taught us apart from the fact that we can work from anywhere is that life is short and at the end of the day we are all working to earn a living, make an impact on the environment and people around us, and provide for ourselves and loved ones. People would have priorities at any given time and one thing (either work or personal life) may suffer over the other based on the assessment of a priority. When this happens, the need to focus and commit is necessary to truly achieve one’s goals- however the other should not be neglected for an extended period of time. It’s important to balance our lives, encouraging healthy lifestyle, team work and take adequate breaks to create time for inner reflection. Considering the alarming mortality from stress, it’s important to have a good work/life balance and companies have a role to play in this in order to encourage a congenial work environment. At loyz, we believe it is important to attract and retain the best talent in order to efficiently deliver our services; hence, we prioritize work life balance with various strategies and policies being implemented by our HR.
People can sit in the convenience of their home and use their mobile device to purchase gas in advance.
Q. What is that huge target you’ll want to hit going forward in your career, and what would you want to be remembered for in the twilight of your career?
A. I want to remembered as someone who is resilient and focused in the face of inundating challenges in the oil and gas sector. The huge target I want to hit going forward is to create a sustainable and service-oriented company. I want to be remembered as a woman who showed up, stood out and created value in a sector that is considered a male-dominated industry. I want progressive entrepreneurs to look at me and see that it is indeed possible; preparedness always meets opportunity. We should not let gender, age, and background limit our ability to impact the lives of others and the community at large
“Investors are people, businesses are run by people, direct or indirect customers of business are people, if you don’t understand people you don’t understand business”.
Q. What’s the Nigeria of your dreams?
A.The Nigeria of my dreams is a country that is peaceful and United. A country where policies are created to promote investments and growth of industries. Also a country that is secure and stable to ensure good returns on those investments as this would drive economic growth which would in turn affect the overall development of the country
Without the opportunity, how can you grow to the state of owning an asset like the others as financial instituons would require a viable contract to provide the support for asset acquisition?
