Canadian Company Provides Clean Natural Gas Fuelling Stations in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria, January 30, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, today visited the Dangote Group of Companies in Lagos, Nigeria, to see how IMW Industries of Chilliwack, British Columbia, is providing fuelling station solutions to displace traditional liquid transport fuels with compressed natural gas (CNG), which is both cleaner for the environment and more economical.

IMW Industries will manufacture the fuelling equipment for a nationwide network of CNG stations that will service more than 5,000 Dangote delivery trucks, as well as other Nigerian company fleets looking to reduce fuel costs. The first CNG station is to be installed in the first quarter of 2013, with others to follow throughout Nigeria. IMW's natural gas fuelling stations are also being used to provide bulk delivery of CNG to Nigerian factories and industries located away from natural gas pipelines.

IMW Industries currently employs 220 at its headquarters in Chilliwack and 500 around the world. IMW is an example of a best-in-class company creating jobs and economic value both at home and abroad.

Minister Fast is on a six-day trade mission to Nigeria and Ghana to advance the interests of Canadian businesses in sub-Saharan Africa. Increased trade will in turn create jobs and increased prosperity for all Canadians. Minister Fast is accompanied on the trade mission by representatives of nearly 30 Canadian organizations, most of them operating in the extractive industries and infrastructure sectors.

This first trade mission of 2013, which is being organized by the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, is one of several strategically focused, sector-specific missions to fast-growing regions around the world that Minister Fast has led since becoming international trade minister.

The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, a part of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, is located in more than 150 cities worldwide and in regional offices across Canada, and is Canada's most extensive network of international business professionals. The Trade Commissioner Service helps companies that are looking to export, invest abroad, attract investment or develop innovation and R & D partnerships.

For more information about Minister Fast's visit to sub-Saharan Africa, please visit Minister Fast's Trade Mission to Africa.