Sunil Vaswani: Growth Through Innovation
Indian immigrants have established successful businesses across diverse industries in Africa. These immigrants who arrived in the continent with limited resources often faced significant challenges, such as cultural differences, language barriers and limited access to capital. However, their determination, resilience and willingness to adapt enabled them to overcome numerous obstacles and thrive in African countries.
Located on the western coast of Africa, Nigeria's climatic conditions vary from arid to humid across its diverse geography. In 1914, the modern nation was formed by joining the British Protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria. The country attained independence 1960. Dozens of languages are spoken across the country, including Yoruba, Igbo, Fula, Hausa, Edo, Ibibio, Tiv and English. The country is rich in natural resources, with large deposits of petroleum and natural gas.
Although Nigeria's national capital is Abuja, it's the former capital, Lagos, that has retained its status as the leading commercial and industrial city. Being the largest economy in Africa and one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, Nigeria has seen considerable growth in its GDP since 2000. Its economic structure has changed significantly, transformed from one mainly based on agriculture to manufacturing and services. Around 52% of the country's GDP now comes from manufacturing and services. Manufacturing and services have grown, thanks to the country's increased political stability. A number of countries, including China, the US and South Africa, have invested heavily in Nigeria. Moreover, considerable growth is seen in its service sector, mainly IT services. The discovery of oil in the Niger Delta in the early 1950s gradually began to have a positive impact upon its then budding economy. Today, the oil and gas industry has been an important contributor to its economic growth.
Sunil Vaswani, Chairman, Stallion Group, has been passionate about West Africa, particularly Nigeria and its economic growth. He has diversified interests in automobiles, technology, petrochemicals, plastics and packaging, steel manufacturing, food, and other commodities. Stallion Group, which is headquartered in Dubai, has been operating across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Besides being a successful businessman, Sunil Vaswani is a philanthropist who regularly invests in host communities of his factories and facilities. Also, he is the co-founder of the Stallion Empowerment Initiative, which is a philanthropic arm of the group that was established in 2019. Initially, the initiative placed most of its focus on Nigeria and the communities within the country. However, the non-profit foundation gradually extended its footprint to other countries within West Africa. The initiative has been a community effort to give back to the people in West Africa and beyond .
In 1954, Sunil Vaswani’s father, Sunderdas Vaswani, migrated to Africa to work as a shop assistant. Initially, he worked in Ghana and thereafter in Nigeria. He gradually opened stores for imported sundries under the name, Jacky Impex. His son Sunil arrived in Nigeria as an infant in 1963, and his brothers were born in the country.
Born in 1963 in Jaipur, India, Sunil Vaswani, a billionaire businessman, grew up in Nigeria with his brothers in the early 1970s. Later he went to London for studies and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Accounting. He spent most of his formative years in Nigeria learning about the business from his father. He was 21 when took over the Nigerian business from his father. Sunil Vaswani, who has Nigerian citizenship, has built the business into the multi-billion-dollar conglomerate, Stallion Group.
Stallion Group
It has been a people's company that is dedicated to its customers, partners and communities around the facilities in West Africa. It has operated in the Sub-Saharan region for half a century, developing businesses around agriculture, food, commodities, automobiles, logistics, plastics & packaging, and business solution services, among several others. It has invested significantly in building large-scale local industries in Africa using cutting-edge technologies and generating employment.
Stallion Group, which has its headquarters in Dubai, generates the bulk of its $4 billion annual revenues from West Africa, particularly Nigeria. The group has diversified into agribusiness, automobile assembly, packaging, fisheries, steel manufacturing, and logistics.
Stallion Group's divisions are renowned for production of exceptional quality and durable products. Its automobiles division has several sub-divisions, which represent a number of globally renowned automobile brands on an exclusive basis for distribution, sales and after-sales service. The group represents brands, such as Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Changan, Ashok Leyland, Morris Garages, and Bajaj RE, and three and four-wheel intracity vehicles. The vehicle brands contribute a 45% share of the new automobiles market in Nigeria. It has worked closely with original equipment manufacturers (OEM) for 25 years, developing the industry and bringing global best practices to customers in Nigeria.
The group's packaging business mainly caters to home, personal care and consumer goods segments. The estimated market-size of its sub-division is 96,000 mt, with 2/3 ply laminates dominating the segment. In 2012, Stallion Plastics Ind. Ltd., a Stallion Group company, was established, with an installed capacity of 550 mt per month. It is equipped with the latest stack flexo and gravure converting machines, and inhouse extrusion, printing, lamination and core-cutting operations.
Fish being a dominant source of nutrition for the people of West Africa, Stallion Group through its fisheries division owns an integrated fish farming facility consisting of fish hatcheries, nurseries, grow-out ponds and cages, fish processing facilities and cold rooms. The group company is the largest producer of Tilapia in Nigeria. It bagged the title of the Best Fish Farmer of the Year in 2016, 2017 and 2018 for the investments and achievements in aquaculture.
The group's logistics company provides seamless logistics services across the entire value chain from shipping till the storage of cargo in major ports in West Africa. It offers reliable and hassle-free solutions for a broad range of delivery and solutions.
In 2003, Sunil Vaswani successfully relocated the business to the UAE after he was wrongly implicated in a financial matter in Nigeria, but later the government gave him a clean chit. He has earned the title of the "Top Indian Leader in the Arab World" by Forbes Middle East for consecutive years in 2015 and 2016. He resides in Dubai with his wife Rita Vaswani and three children. He is a prominent figure, with Nigerian and British citizenship, reflecting his Sindhi heritage. His education in economics and accounting from the UK played a pivotal role in shaping his expansive career.
Sunil Vaswani, whose estimated net worth is $1.60 billion, has been recognized through numerous awards and accolades. He has been honoured for his entrepreneurial spirit, business acumen and contributions to the economy.
(Photo: Courtesy Stallion Group)
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