Afrexim Bank’s Statement to Elumelu

By Olusegun Adeniyi

I was at the Afreximbank event in Abuja last Saturday when Mr Tony Elumelu and Dr. George Elombi put pen to paper on what turned out to be a historic $750 million financing agreement for Heirs Energies. As I watched the ceremony unfold, I could not help but reflect on entrepreneurs who complain about the absence of funding for “serious businesses” in Nigeria. “The money is not there,” they would insist with the certitude of someone who had tried every door and found them all locked. Well, here was $750 million, real money being committed to an African enterprise by an African financial institution. It was a calculated investment in a company that has demonstrated performance, governance, and the kind of vision that transforms industries.

The numbers tell their own story. When Heirs Energies took over Oil Mining Lease (OML) 17 from Shell, Total, and Eni, production stood at 25,000 barrels of oil per day. Today, it exceeds 50,000 barrels. The plan, according to Samuel Nwanze, the company’s CFO, is to hit 100,000 barrels daily within three years while ramping up gas production to 250 million cubic metres. These are not pie-in-the-sky projections, but targets backed by proven operational capacity and the kind of discipline that makes financiers comfortable parting with serious money.

At the ceremony, Elumelu was characteristically candid about the journey. He spoke about the delays his company faced under President Muhammadu Buhari when acquiring OML 17. The Buhai administration stalled his efforts on grounds that the asset was “too large for private sector ownership.” The irony, as he also noted, was that Shell itself is a private sector entity. Those delays, Elumelu said, came at significant financial cost. Yet Heirs Energies never defaulted on its obligations, even while battling the severe oil theft that has become an unfortunate feature of Nigeria’s energy sector.

Elumelu was effusive in his praise for Afreximbank, which he described as “the most impactful and catalytic financial institution in Africa.” He spoke about trust, performance, and the discipline required to sustain partnerships with institutions that put their money where transformative projects exist. “When financial institutions support you,” he said, “the least you owe them is to perform.” It is a simple truth that should resonate with every aspiring entrepreneur: access to capital is one thing; the credibility to deploy it effectively is quite another.

Elombi, for his part, emphasized that Afreximbank’s confidence in Heirs Energies was built on demonstrated leadership, governance, and asset quality. This transaction, he added, aligns with the bank’s mandate to support African champions driving sustainable economic transformation. And there lies the key point: African institutions have the capacity and the willingness to back African enterprises. What they require are bankable projects led by credible teams. In fact, I was stunned when Elombi openly prompted the President & Group CEO of Transnational Corporation Plc (Transcorp), Dr. Owen Omogiafo, to come up with ideas that would help expand their business across the continent, promising the finance. “Whoa!” exclaimed an excited Elumelu while beaming with smiles. But bank executives don’t play Father Christmas with money. They must have seen value in their relationship with the businesses championed by Elumelu who said that, as a matter of principle, he prefers to source funds outside the United Bank for Africa (UBA) which he chairs.

I may have become a broken gramophone on this issue but I will not stop saying that what Nigeria needs are more risk-takers, men and women willing to bet big on the country’s potential rather than seek safety in trading, real estate speculation, or the easy money of import dependency. In this same country, some of us can still remember a young man who had access to the authorities in the oil and gas industry yet rather than invest, he spent all the time and money buying yacht and ferrying supermodels around the world.

What Elumelu and his team have done with Heirs Energies is instructive. They identified a critical sector, acquired strategic assets, navigated regulatory complexities, and built operational excellence. The $750 million Afreximbank facility is validation that when you get these fundamentals right, the money will come. The broader lesson extends beyond Nigeria. Across Africa, we hear lamentations about the absence of capital for meaningful development. Yet Afreximbank alone has assets exceeding $40 billion. Add to that the African Development Bank, the continent’s sovereign wealth funds, pension assets, and private capital pools, and the picture becomes clear: Africa has money. What Africa needs urgently are more entrepreneurs with the audacity to dream big, the competence to execute, and the integrity to sustain investor confidence.

As Elumelu put it at the ceremony, “This is Africa financing Africa’s future.” It is a powerful statement, one that challenges the narrative of perpetual dependence on Western capital. But for this narrative to become reality, we need our governments to create enabling environments. The regulatory delays Heirs Energies faced should never have happened. When private sector players demonstrate capacity, government should facilitate, not frustrate.

As I left the venue, I thought about entrepreneurs who insist the money is not there. Perhaps the real question is whether they have a project compelling enough to attract it. The Heirs Energies-Afreximbank deal proves that when African entrepreneurs bring bankable mega projects to the table, African capital will back them. The finance is there. What we need are more people willing to take the risk.

• You can follow me on my X (formerly Twitter) handle, @Olusegunverdict and on www.olusegunadeniyi.com