In this post we will be looking at list of top companies owned by foreigners in Nigeria and reasons why these foreigners are hired to lead Nigeria’s biggest corporations.
INTRODUCTION.
Since colonial times, foreigners from Europe and the Americas have been living and working in Nigeria. Initially, they were either referred to as colonial masters or missionaries. Fast forward to the 21st century, these foreign workers like to be called expatriates, even as they prefer to live in some of the most exclusive neighborhoods of Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt. As a matter of fact, some of Nigeria’s most exclusive neighborhoods were once predominantly dominated by foreigners who developed and resided in them with their families. A significant number of expatriates in Nigeria today oversee some of the country’s biggest companies. They play such roles as Chief Executive Officers, Chief Operating Officers, Chief Financial Officers, and more. Interestingly, they are not all Europeans and Americans.
LIST OF TOP COMPANIES OWNED BY FOREIGNERS IN NIGERIA
- CHEVRON: Chevron Nigeria Limited is a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation and it is one of the largest oil producers in Nigeria. It was previously operating in Nigeria under the business name of Gulf Oil Company until merger activities changed its name to Chevron Nigeria. After another merger by the parent company with Texaco, the Nigerian oil and gas assets of Texaco Overseas Petroleum Company of Nigeria were merged into Chevron. In the shallow and inland waters of Nigeria, the firm operates a joint venture with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
- AIRTEL: Airtel Networks Limited (Airtel Nigeria) is a leading mobile telecommunications company in Nigeria. According to the Subscribers statistics released by Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on 30 August 2019, Airtel Nigeria has 26.8% mobile telephone market share and 46.8 million subscribers. The company is a member of Airtel Africa, the holding firm for Bharti Airtel’s operations in 14 countries in Africa.
- CADBURY: Cadbury Nigeria Plc is a food, sweets and drink company headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria and traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Cadbury Nigeria Plc is a subsidiary of Mondelez International, one of the largest snacking companies in the world. The firm’s flagship product is Bournvita and it competes with brands from Nestle, GlaxoSmithKline and Promasidor.
- EXXONMOBIL: ExxonMobil Nigeria (formerly, Mobil Producing Nigeria) is one of three Nigerian subsidiaries of the petroleum company ExxonMobil. It began operations in 1955. All of its operations are offshore, where it owns 90 platforms on 3,200 square kilometres (1,200 sq mi; 790,000 acres) of territory. MPN is the second largest producer of crude oil in Nigeria after Shell. Erha field/vessel is the recent offshore deployment of ExxonMobil FPSO in Nigeria partnering with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
- GUINNESS: Guinness Nigeria, a subsidiary of Diageo Plc of the United Kingdom, was incorporated in 1962 with the building of a brewery in Ikeja, the heart of Lagos. The brewery was the first Guinness operation outside Ireland and Great Britain. Other breweries have been opened over time: Ogba brewery in 1963 and Benin City brewery in 1973.
- NESTLE: Nestle Nigeria Plc is a publicly listed food and beverage specialty company headquartered in Lagos. It’s mostly owned by a holding company based in Switzerland and have ties to the company Tolaram Group. The company was founded in 1961 and conducted trading under the name of Nestle Products Nigeria Limited. It has its main factory in Agbara Industrial Estate, Ogun State. The firm manufactures breakfast cereal, baby food products, food seasoning and hydrolyzed plant protein mix.
- SAIPEM: Saipem Nigeria is the Nigerian subsidiary company of Saipem, with a huge structure covering all sort of services to the Oil & Gas Industry such as Drilling On/Offshore, construction activities on/offshore (pipelines, power plants, fabrication activities) Engineering, Maintenance. EPIC/EPC Contractor with head offices in Lagos and New operational Base in Port Harcourt (Rumulumeni area). Saipem is under trial in Italy over charges relating to bribery in Nigeria.
- SHELL: Shell Nigeria is the common name for Shell plc’s Nigerian operations carried out through four subsidiaries—primarily Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC). Royal Dutch Shell’s joint ventures account for more than 21% of Nigeria’s total petroleum production (629,000 barrels per day (100,000 m3/d) (bpd) in 2009). The company has been controversial in communities in the Niger Delta, who point to its poor environmental record and that most of the economic benefit from oil exploitation has not benefited local communities. In particular, when, in 1993 the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) organized large protests against Shell and the government, it led to repression of the local community. The company has been responsible for some significant oil spills in the Niger delta, and both Nigerian and European courts have held them liable for environmental destruction. One of the most significant cases was at one of Shell’s oil extraction facilities located in the Ejama-Ebubu community.
- PZ CUSSONS: PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc is a publicly listed Nigerian manufacturer and distributor of consumer products such as detergents, toiletries, soaps and home appliances. It is a subsidiary of the British company PZ Cussons Holdings, which owns controlling shares in the firm. PZ trades home appliances products under the brand Haier Thermocool and manages Coolworld electrical stores. It has a joint venture with Wilmar International to produce and trade vegetable oil and palm oil.
- Unilever: Unilever Nigeria Plc is a publicly listed company with trading and manufacturing interest in the consumer goods market. In 2014, it was listed among the top 20 most valuable companies quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Unilever Nigeria PLC is a subsidiary of Unilever Overseas Holding B.V.
Reasons why these foreigners are hired to lead Nigeria’s biggest corporations.
There are two main reasons why these foreigners are hired to lead Nigeria’s biggest corporations:
The first reason is the fact that a significant number of Nigeria’s big corporations have foreign entities as majority shareholders. For instance, MTN Nigeria Plc and Nigerian Breweries Plc are both subsidiaries of South Africa’s MTN Group Limited and Amsterdam-based Heineken. In view of this, it is understandable when the owners of such companies bring in their people to better represent their interests.
The second reason is the fact that foreign nationals (especially those from Europe and North America) are often thought to possess better expertise than their Nigerian counterparts. As such, they are treasured, even as they get to earn quite a lot of money in executive compensation.
Across most of the world’s advanced economies, it is very rare to find Nigerians (and Africans at large) leading the biggest companies in such places. The exclusive right is usually reserved for the citizens, mainly because there are usually far too many of them with experience and expertise to lead. The story is a little different across Africa, especially so in Nigeria. Besides South Africa, Egypt and maybe Ethiopia – where a sizable number of some of the biggest companies such as Shoprite Holdings, Naspers, Arab Contractors, and Ethiopian Airlines are led by indigenes – foreign expatriates usually call the shots in some of the biggest companies on the African continent.
CONCLUTION
It should also be noted that there is a growing number of Africans who are now deemed fit to lead multinationals in Nigeria, depending on their educational and professional pedigree and experience. This is all thanks to globalization, which has exposed many Africans to the same level of educational qualifications/expertise as the Europeans and Americans. not all of Nigeria’s big corporations are headed by foreigners; however, a significant number of them are.