I am delighted to welcome all of you. This is a first. The first time we have brought all groupwide HH board members together.
Over 100 directors of all our investee companies in one location, at the HH Group Directors’ Annual Summit.
It is a moment for reflection – a demonstration that HH is truly a Group – different sectors – different geographies – but with a common commitment, a shared philosophy – and a demonstration of our scale and of what we call HH Impact.
You, our board members, are influential leaders and seasoned experts in multiple fields; industry veterans who are fully committed to our journey of transformation – ours corporately and Africa’s.
I am excited about the opportunity to engage with all of you, reflect on learnings from our past achievements, strategize the way forward, and chart the path for further business success and good corporate governance, a defining hallmark of our great institution.
For we have built the HH Group on two core foundations – two commitments:
- To invest for the long term – to be patient, but to be transformative – to be Africapitalists – doing good and well.
- And to ensure our governance is strong from day one. Sound corporate governance is fundamental to our integrity and mission as a business.
Over the past decade, we have made significant impact across the African continent. What I call “HH Impact” – HH Impact is what should drive us. HH Impact is what will drive us.
We have truly ‘built to last’ by consistently delivering value in critical sectors, including oil and gas, power, financial services, hospitality, real estate, healthcare, and technology. From the outset, we have championed socio-economic growth and positively shaped Africa’s future – this is what HH Impact means. It is why I am so proud of the 20,000 entrepreneurs catalysed by the Tony Elumelu Foundation – and the 40,000 we employ – our own human capital.
This HH Group Summit presents the opportunity to leverage our cumulative experience to define the next phase of our journey. Our discussions will assess further how we can strengthen our governance practices and identify opportunities for innovation and impact. It also presents a rare occasion for networking and bonding.
This is the HH Family.
Over the past decade, we have inculcated in our business these two mantras:
- The criticality of strong corporate governance practices.
- That we only invest for the long term, strategically and patiently.
These twin commitments are fundamental to our success, to our corporate and institutional culture; we are indeed building to last, redefining success in every sector we operate in, and demonstrating our purpose to improve lives and transform Africa.
The success and impact of Heirs Holdings reflect my philosophy of Africapitalism, the belief that the African private sector can change the course of African development, but that it must be committed to doing good and doing well.
To date, our investee companies employ over 40,000 people across 20 African countries, the United Kingdom, UAE, France, and the United States of America.
- The HH portfolio includes investments in Heirs Energies Limited, Africa’s leading indigenous-owned integrated energy company, that produces over 40k bpd, which is transforming resource-based value chains, making African resources work for Africa;
- Heirs Insurance Group, championing financial inclusion and leading the digital transformation of the insurance ecosystem in Nigeria, with a mission to democratize access to insurance;
- United Capital Plc, a leader in Investment Banking, Asset Management, Trusteeship, Securities Trading, Wealth Management, and Consumer Finance;
- Nigeria’s largest quoted conglomerate, Transcorp Group Plc, whose subsidiaries include Transcorp Power, one of the leading producers of electricity in West Africa and Transcorp Hotels Plc, Nigeria’s foremost hospitality brand;
- and the United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), Africa’s Global Bank, which serves more than 45 million customers globally.
- Real Estate
- Healthcare
- Technology & Payments
Our Group also boasts three NSE listed stocks each worth over N1trillion (SWOOTs) within its portfolio and manages an investment portfolio size worth N10.6trillion, which is USD7.1billion.
Our philanthropy, the Tony Elumelu Foundation:
- has impacted 1.5 million young Africans,
- and disbursed US$100 million in seed capital to 20,000 young African entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries, whose businesses have created over 400,000 jobs.
In conclusion, let me use this opportunity to thank our people, our human capital, our own Africapitalists, whose collective effort inspires the results that we record today; our business leaders whose decisions steer us towards our goal; and our Board members, whose experience and governance ensure that we not only remain competitive, but we focus on building for the long-term.
This convening is yet another milestone in our journey to unlock prosperity and transformation. I eagerly anticipate this meeting of great minds and look forward to reinforcing our commitment to excellence and sustainable growth.
Welcome, thank you and let’s create even more HH Impact.
