Caption: Wale Tinubu, Group Chief Executive, Oando Plc, receives the ‘Deal of the Year’ Award, for the company’s landmark acquisition of Nigeria Agip Oil Company from Keith Hill, former President and Chief Executive Officer of Africa Oil Corp, at the Africa Energy Week Awards 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Oando Plc, Africa’s leading energy solutions provider listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX) and Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, emerged winner of the ‘Deal of the Year’ award at Africa Energy Week (AEW), at a Gala and Award night of the week-long annual oil and gas conference organised by the Africa Energy Chamber (AEC) in Cape Town, South Africa.
In a category comprising other high-profile deals in the sector and across Africa, Oando clinched the award in recognition of its recently completed landmark $783 million acquisition of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) from the Italian Energy firm Eni on August 22, 2024.
The acquisition, according to a statement by Oando took 10 years in the making, beginning with Oando’s initial entry into the ConocoPhillips/NAOC/NNPC Joint Venture (JV) in 2014, when the company acquired ConocoPhillips Nigeria’s business, doubling its stake in the JV to 40%, becoming operator of the assets.
Receiving the award, Oando’s Group Chief Executive, Wale Tinubu, expressed delight and honour at the award of the ‘Deal of the Year,’ describing 2024 as “a remarkable year on many fronts.
“First, we marked our 30th anniversary as a business, then concluded our strategic plan to acquire our second IOC in a decade, Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and step up to the role of operator,” he said.
For him, also, the “award is more than just an accolade for a successful deal closure; it represents a public acknowledgement of the culmination of 30 years of grit, hard work, resilience, and sheer belief in our vision. It is a testament to my belief that with the #HumansOfOando, ‘impossible’ is nothing. I’d like to thank the dream team, the #HumansOfOando, our financiers, and partners for their belief and role in making this award a reality.”
The acquisition, the statement continued, is the culmination of a decade of preparation, strategic planning, and unwavering commitment to a vision of becoming Africa’s first indigenous International Oil Company.
The deal, it stressed, is a testament to the organisation’s 30-year journey spanning the entire energy value chain, with consistent and deliberate actions at each stage that have led to the advancement of indigenous participation in the industry.
The Deal of the Year award “recognises the most transformative and impactful deal in the energy sector – honouring excellence in negotiation, strategic alignment, innovation and collaboration – and celebrates deals that drive advancements in energy and economic growth.”
With this year’s AEW theme of “Invest in Africa Energies: Energy Growth Through an Enabling Environment”, the AEC, through the AEW Awards 2024, recognised other persons, International (IOCs) and National Oil Companies (NOCs) across the continent through awards in 10 categories.
