By Stellamaris Ashinze
Ten thousand Nigerian homes have embraced an App developed by a Nigerian software developer to facilitate efficient use of household utilities.
Unveiling the App, known as “Cydene Express” at a ceremony in Lagos on Monday, the developer, Mr Skalid Obi, said the App was developed to help teeming Nigerian households and companies to pay for and track use of utilities.
Obi, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Cydene Energy Services Ltd., said the App would also help Nigerians to make efficient use of utilities.
He said that the App would be presented formally to Nigerians on Aug. 3 in Lagos, describing the invention as a major breakthrough in the quest by people to track their use of utilities.
According to him, the app will be used to access electricity, cooking gas, diesel, call credit and other related utility bills.
He explained that users of the App would exploit utilities from the comfort of their homes.
The software developer said that 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.
“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 realised that the process of product supply is structured in all parts of the supply chain, except to the very end user.
“The challenge for consumers was their inability to know when and how they would track their daily needs and services as and when needed.
He said: “I decided that if I could automate the process of purchasing and distributing energy products on a retail level, then I would have solved a huge part of the problem faced by consumers’’.
Obi said that industry experience had also played a big role in his floating and nurturing a data sciences company, known as Cydene Data Solutions.
He said the company provided solutions on various energy needs, including diesel supplies, cooking gas, energy tokens and other household needs.
According to him, with Cydene Express App, one can order cooking gas, fuel, diesel, airtime credit and electricity tokens from the comfort of your home.
The entrepreneur said that the idea was to create an energy wallet that would serve all household’s energy needs, including taking advantage of energy merchants around you.
Obi recalled that his interest in the development of IT solutions started a long time ago after his high school, saying that he felt humbled to have contributed to the growth of the Nigerian economy.
Also speaking at the event, a non-Executive Director of Cydene Energy Services, Mr Sam Ochonwa, said that the App, which leverages on Artificial Intelligence would help to ease the stress of Nigerians using its tracking facilities.
Ochonwa said that the App was a major contribution in supporting the initiative of the Federal Government to ease the daily stress plaguing citizens.
