Adewale Tinubu (CON)

Group Chief Executive, Oando PLC

Wale Tinubu is the Group Chief Executive of Oando PLC, Africa’s leading indigenous energy solutions provider listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the first African company to have a cross-border inward listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

He holds a Bachelor of Law Degree (LLB) from the University of Liverpool, England, an MBA and a Master of Law degree (LLM) from the London School of Economics, England. He began his career in 1992 as an Attorney, specializing in corporate law. Wale Tinubu has a proven track record in building successful businesses across the energy value chain.

In 1993, he co-founded Ocean and Oil Group, one of the first indigenous trading companies with extensive operations exporting Nigerian petroleum products. In 2000, during the Nigerian Government’s privatization exercise, Wale Tinubu led Ocean and Oil’s successful bid for a stake in Unipetrol. Two years later, he led the largest-ever acquisition of a quoted Nigerian company, with Unipetrol PLC’s purchase of Agip Nigeria PLC. The group was rebranded to Oando PLC in 2003.

In June 2015, Wale was named ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ West Africa by Ernst & Young based on his contributions to the development of the African Oil and Gas industry. In 2011, he was awarded ‘African Business Leader of the Year’ by Africa Investor and in 2007, ‘Global Young Leader’ by the World Economic Forum, Geneva, recognizing his achievements as a leading business executive.

Wale Tinubu is globally recognized for his successful transformation of Oando from a petroleum marketing company to an integrated energy group, including in the downstream – OVH Energy (formerly Oando Marketing) and Oando Trading; midstream – Axxela Limited (formerly Oando Gas and Power) and upstream – Oando Energy Services and Oando Energy Resources.

Under his leadership, the strength of the Oando brand name and her subsidiaries was brought to the fore when in 2016 unhindered by a repressed economy, strategic partnerships in Oando PLC’s downstream and midstream businesses (OVH Energy and Axxela) pulled in $300 million in capital investment into Nigeria’s economy.

In 2019, Oando successfully divested Oando Marketing Limited to the Vitol Group, the world’s largest independent trader of energy commodities and Helios Investment Partner, a premier Africa-focused private investment firm, resulting in the formation of OVH Energy, with proceeds from the entire sale totaling ~$461 million.

OVH Energy has the largest distribution footprint in Nigeria, with over 1,500 trucks, 50 million liters in tank storage capacity and over 400 retail station outlets. His business acumen led to the pioneering development of the first privately owned mid-stream jetty in West Africa which sits within OVH Energy’s business portfolio. The $150 million investment was designed to eliminate the operational constraints and inefficiencies in petroleum product importation into Nigeria.

In the same year, Oando concluded its phased divestment from Axxela to a vehicle owned by Helios Investment Partners LLP (“Helios”), a premier Africa-focused private investment firm, for a total of ~ $160 million.

Axxela is the developer of Nigeria’s foremost natural gas distribution network and captive power solutions. The company pioneered the private sector piping and distribution of natural gas to industrial and commercial consumers, successfully reviving private sector participation in Nigeria’s gas distribution business.

Today, Oando PLC is made up of Oando Energy Resources (OER) its upstream subsidiary and Oando Trading, its supply and trading subsidiary.

In 2014, Mr. Tinubu led OER’s, $1.8 billion landmark acquisition of Conoco Phillips Nigerian businesses, fortifying the company as the leading independent exploration and production company in Nigeria. OER has assets on and offshore in Nigeria, and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of São Tomé and Príncipe. The portfolio includes 14 licenses, net average production of ~44,000 boepd, 2P reserves of ~ 485.3mmboe, 2C reserves of ~158.9 mmboe as well as extensive infrastructure including ~22,500km2 of combined acreage, ~483,000 bpd of oil handling capacity, ~3,663 mmscf/d (million standard cubic feet per day) of gas handling capacity, 3.5 mmbbls (million barrels) terminal capacity, and over 1,255 km pipeline network, amongst others.

With a mission to bridge the country’s educational gap and build the next generation of change makers, Mr. Tinubu founded Oando Foundation in 2011. Oando Foundation is an independent charity with the primary focus of driving a sustainable basic educational system for the Nigerian child through its signature programme – the Adopt-A-School Initiative (AASI). Today, the Foundation has adopted 88 public primary schools across Nigeria, supporting over 500,000 students, enrolled over 60,000 Out of School Children, trained ~ 3,000 teachers, infrastructure rehabilitation of ~300 classrooms (renovation and new build) and established ~40 solar powered digital learning centers. The Foundation’s mission is to improve the learning environment in primary schools by holistically creating world-class basic education systems to the community.