As the year comes to an end, Pan-African investor, Mr. Tony Elumelu, is fine-tuning plans to acquire a power plant as well as commence oil production, among other big plans for 2013.

The plans were approved by the senior management of Heirs Holdings, the African proprietary investment company chaired by Elumelu, convened at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, earlier this month to review the Group’s 2012 operations and to chart 2013 objectives within its core strategy of driving one of Africa’s leading value-creating enterprises.

According to a statement released this morning in Lagos by Heirs Holdings, the Group will next year: 

•Conclude the acquisition of the Ughelli power plant, Nigeria’s largest gas-fired electricity generation plant with an installed capacity of 1000MW;

•Commence production of its two oil assets in Atta and Delta;

•Establish an integrated fertilizer plant in Delta State, as part of the Group’s wider energy business, which will supply Nigeria’s burgeoning agricultural sector with three million tonnes of fertilizer per year;

•Construct a petrochemical facility that will enable domestic production and boost intra-Africa trade flow, in addition to creating thousands of jobs throughout Nigeria; and

•Change the dynamics of intra-African commodity trade and market development through the establishment of Africa Exchange Holdings Limited (AfEX), a platform to roll out commodity exchanges across Africa, starting with East Africa Exchange Limited (EAX), a Rwanda-based regional commodities exchange. EAX will directly serve the needs of African farmers and create a more sustainable, balanced market discovery mechanism for much of the continent’s hard and soft commodities.

“In addition to the above, Heirs Holdings has set ambitious goals for the next three years, including the development of five new Transcorp Hilton hotels in Nigeria, at Asaba, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja; and real estate developments, including a prime location shopping mall and office complexes in Lagos,” the statement said.

News Express reports that 2012 was a fruitful year for Heirs Holdings as the year saw the company’s portfolio record impressive growth. Heirs Holdings operates a group of companies in key economic sectors across Africa – financial services, power, oil and gas, hospitality and real estate, agribusiness and healthcare – with a mission to create economic and social wealth via African-led entrepreneurship. The Group also supports The Tony Elumelu Foundation, whose goal is to enhance the competitiveness of the African private sector through leadership development, long-term impact investment and promoting catalytic policy change.

Heirs Holdings is actively developing significant industrial projects, viewed as a crucial means to build and diversify Africa’s economy. With expanding operations in countries such as Nigeria, Tanzania and Rwanda, a central component of the Group’s business philosophy is to draw more of the much-needed industrial value chain onto the continent by replicating its successes throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

In Tanzania, Heirs has partnered with foreign associates to invest in Mtanga Farms, which has a growing livestock business as well as a growing seed potatoes business that has introduced a new, high-yielding seed variety that will help improve the returns of about 150,000 small holder farmers in the region.

Avon Healthcare Services, the latest addition to the Group’s portfolio, is a nationally-certified HMO providing innovative corporate healthcare insurance and joins Avon Medical Services, which operates medical facilities in Lagos.

“Heirs Holdings as an African investment company has a long-term outlook for pan-African development,” says Mr. Elumelu, the immediate past Group MD of United Bank for Africa (UBA). “When we commenced operations two years ago, we wanted to build an institution, one that would transform Africa economically, while creating social wealth that would impact future generations.

“The impressive results achieved in just a short period of time evidence our ambition and are a statement of intent of what we will go on to achieve.

“Our goal is to be the continent’s preeminent proprietary investment group, but more than that, our investments must empower Africans to achieve more, and touch lives in a meaningful, sustainable way.”

•Photo: Tony Elumelu.