There are indications that Heirs Holdings, HH, group, Africa’s leading enterprise powerhouse, is set for more ground-breaking feats after a long list of record achievements in its first decade in operation.

The HH Group and Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) were created in 2010 by Mr Tony Elumelu to drive private investment and champion entrepreneurship across Africa.

Recently, the group celebrated its 12th anniversary with a reminiscence of its achievements in the first decade while looking forward to a greater second decade.

Hinting of a greater future, the Group Chairman, Tony Elumelu, said, “As we are now well into our second decade, and as I look forward in our journey into the future, I am more encouraged, to be even more audacious and bolder than we ever were, because of you, our HH People.

“We must not relent in our vision to improve lives and transform the African continent through living our philosophy of Africapitalism and our commitment to long-term investment and sustainable businesses.”

He had described the anniversary season as “a moment to look back and to look forward; to celebrate, to take stock, to learn and redouble.”

Assessing the foundational years of the Group, Elumelu said “Almost everything we wanted to accomplish in our first ten years, we have accomplished.”

The story of HH Group is that of accomplishing dreams, staying faithful to the vision and working for results.

On these counts Elumelu stated: “Anyone can dream – execution, institutionalisation, patience, persistence, these are the hallmarks of our achievement, our success separates us from many. We appreciate luck, but we create opportunity, and opportunity that leads to results, milestones, value – tangible and intangible.”

He commended all subsidiary and investee companies associated with Heirs Holdings, for making HH’s vision a reality, adding, “without them, we would not have been able to accomplish what we have achieved.”

Giving further insight into the successes in the HH Group, Elumelu explains: “In the beginning, we had shared visions, for business and for Africa. In business we have done well, but more important is the impact we are making every day in Nigeria, and Africa, as well as our growing influence across the globe.”

He also shared some insight into the entrepreneurship development activites of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, TEF, saying, “TEF is transforming lives and giving hope. When I listen to our young African men and women tell how their lives have improved as a result of the work of the Foundation, I feel even prouder of HH People and how we are collectively transforming Africa.

“Nothing gives me greater happiness, greater excitement, and a greater sense of fulfilment than seeing the faces of these young men and women, from our continent, that have been enabled and empowered.”

The Footprints

About a decade ago, Heirs Holdings made its first strategic investment move acquiring a controlling stake in Transcorp, Nigeria’s largest listed conglomerate. Transcorp, which, despite an attractive portfolio spanning the Nigerian economy, including the iconic Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, and a loyal shareholder base of over 300,000, had serially underperformed.

But with HH’s operational skills and turn around expertise, Transcorp has now blossomed as a platform to execute investments in energy, hospitality, and agriculture.
Around same period, HH Group and TEF made their first joint impact investment outside Nigeria – Mtanga Farms in Tanzania, a business developing innovative approaches to increasing African agricultural yields.

This also marked the advent of “Africapitalism”, Tony Elumelu’s continental entrepreneurship mantra, in his belief that Africa’s private sector can and must play a leading role in the continent’s development, seeking both economic and social returns.
HH group made further acquisitions in the real estate and financial sectors: Afriland Properties Plc, a property management, investment and development company; United Capital Plc, a financial and investment services group; and Africa Prudential Registrar Plc, a leading share registration service provider.

Meanwhile, the Transcorp Group under the HH Group continued to expand, creating subsidiaries in several sectors of the economy. In the power sector, Transcorp Ughelli Power was named as the preferred bidder for Ughelli Power Plc, the largest electric power plant in Nigeria, under the privatisation programme of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Further in the power sector, Heirs Holdings committed US$2.5billion, as the single largest private sector investor in President Obama’s Power Africa initiative. The innovative partnership ambition is to add 30,000MW of new electricity generation capacity, to increase electricity access by at least 60 million new connections in sub-Saharan Africa.
Also Transcorp Hotels acquired the Metropolitan Hotels and Conferencing Limited, owners of the oldest hotel in Calabar, the Metropolitan Hotel Calabar. The hotel is renamed Transcorp Hotels Calabar.

In the energy sector, Heirs Holdings acquired 51% of Seadrill Nigeria Limited, a deep-water drilling contractor for the petroleum industry, furthering the strategic intent of identifying opportunities across the oil and gas value chain.

A further footprint in the upstream oil and gas sector was made with its subsidiary, Tenoil, which successfully drilled its first oil well about seven years ago, confirming significant amounts of commercial hydrocarbons.

Deepening its foothold in the oil and gas sector, HH successfully acquired OML17 from Shell, TOTAL and ENI in the largest oil and gas transaction in Africa for the year 2020. OML 17 has a 2P gross reserve of 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The acquisition further fulfils HH’s strategy of investing across the resource value chain, creating integration and value creation on the African continent. The transaction represents a further significant step in HH’s ambition to create Africa’s largest integrated energy company.