10 things you don’t know about Benedict Peters of Aiteo

HE IS THE 17TH RICHEST MAN IN AFRICA-

Founder and Executive Vice Chairman of integrated energy company, Aiteo Group, Benedict Peters, clocked 51 on Tuesday, December 5, 2017. And in the past two weeks, the elusive billionaire who has changed the face of Nigerian football and is taking us to the World Cup in Russia, has received 3 big awards from New Telegraph, BusinessDay and Leadership.

A consummate businessman with an unassuming personality, there is a lot about the gentleman fondly called Benny that many do not know about.

Here are 10 of them

1. Born in Abakaliki
Although of Delta State origin, Benedict Peters was born in Abakaliki, the capital of present-day Ebonyi State on December 5, 1966 to a middle class family. He and five other siblings were raised by their banker father and a homemaker mother. Formal education began at Ekulu Primary School, Enugu, from which he proceeded to Federal Government College, also in Enugu.

2. Graduate of UNIBEN
He graduated from the University of Benin (UNIBEN) with a B.Sc. degree in Geography and Urban Planning in 1989 at the age of 22. His father retired from banking while he was at the university, prompting the young Peters to develop entrepreneurial skills ahead of many of his contemporaries.

3. Tomato and cocoa trader
After graduation, an enterprising Peters became a cross-country merchant with interests in agricultural produce. He started with large-scale trading of tomatoes from northern Nigeria to the south and trading in cocoa for local consumption and export. Sale of new and used cars, vehicle spare parts and real estate were some of his other early business interests.

4. From banking to Ocean and Oil
The seed of what would later become a flourishing career in oil and gas was sown at Union Bank where Peters did his mandatory one-year National Youth Service. A job offer by the bank was politely turned down for a chance to build a fortune from his relationship with Wale Tinubu, Jite Okoloko and Mofe Boyo of Ocean and Oil.

5. Managing Director of MRS
Convinced of Peters’ competence and far-reaching influence, Alhaji Sayyu Dantata head-hunted him to join MRS Oil Nigeria Plc as Group Executive Director in 1994, followed by promotion to the position of Managing Director. In no time, the company became a prime player in the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry. Peters wrote his name into MRS folklore in five short but eventful years.

More after the break.

AITEO TO BOOST FG LOCAL CONTENT ASPIRATION WITH $2.85B

 

Aiteo Group one of Africa's leading conglomerates, leading a consortium of five other companies has won the bid for the Royal Dutch Shell's prolific Nigerian oil block, Oil Mining License 29 and an associated pipeline with a bid of $2.85 billion.
The acquisition of OML 29, as well as the Nembe Creek Trunk line, a 60-mile pipeline which has served as Nigeria's major crude oil transportation channel- moving oil through the Niger Delta to the Atlantic coat, is a major boost for Nigerian Local Content Development initiative. The Trunk Line is also an extremely valuable asset as it is also a vessel for other oil exploration companies in Nigeria pay to use it to transport their oil to international markets.

This acquisition has deepened Nigeria's indigenous participation in oil and gas exploration. Aiteo the major shareholder in the consortium purchase of Shell's assets has promised to put its competence to bear in this new deal, which will see it execute the local content to the later.

This is expected to translate to the creation of over 20,000 jobs in the exploration and production sub-sectors of the oil and gas industry. The Nigerian content implementation had increased the level of participation of Nigerians in oil and gas contracts to 87 per cent.

According to investment analysts, Aiteo by this development has shown that it is committed to the development of the Nigeria Oil and Gas sector in accordance with the Nigerian Oil and Gas industry Content Act 2010 (NOGICD Act) enacted by the Federal Government of Nigeria in April 2010 for Nigerian Content Development.

It has been established that OML 29's remaining reserves (P1+P2) hold about 2.2Billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), while its hydrocarbon fields could deliver as much 160,000 barrels of oil per day and 300MMscf/d at peak.

ABOUT AITEO
The Aiteo GROUP is a vertically integrated energy company, expanding its global footprint and scope from oil and Gas and Power into fully diversified conglomerate with investments across key economic sectors including Mining, Agriculture, Financial Services, Real Estate and infrastructure.