₦airaland Forum

I can see at least 5 out of the 10 States are sure, no-bargain win for Tinubu. They are Lagos, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Oyo.

Meet 4 of the largest Greek-owned companies operating in Nigeria

By Ngozi Ekugo

The number of Nigerian companies with Greek origins may not be much, but they are certainly quite impactful.

The bilateral trade relations between Nigeria and Greece date back to 1970 when both countries established diplomatic relations. Before then, Greek companies had been operating in Nigeria, with some dating as far back as many decades ago playing significant roles in the Nigerian economy, essentially in manufacturing.

Over the years, trade between the two countries concentrated in Maritime trade with Greek-owned ships carrying Nigerian crude oil.

The Greek investment companies have been making in the Nigerian economy keep on growing. For example, in 2005, Greek-owned Flour Mills of Nigeria announced an investment of US$ 350 million to create a cement factory in Calabar with project costs rising to US$500 million.

Other companies of Greek origin in Nigeria are household names that have contributed to the economy, employed many Nigerians, and given back to society.

Here are some of them:

AG Leventis

Again Leventis Plc was founded by Anastasios George Leventis who was a Greek Cypriot businessman in 1937. The main activities of the company were importing and wholesaling textile goods.

However, it has grown to be involved in key sectors, such as:
Manufacturing – Nigeria Bottling Company
Foods – Leventis Foods
Hospitality – Victoria Beach Hotel (now Federal Palace Hotel) to Lagos Mainland Hotel
Power and Industrial Packaging
Automotive: Leventis Motors
Logistics and Transportation: Through the sales of heavy and light duty trucks sales and after-sales, Vehicle Assembly through events TGL
Retail – Leventis Stores and the new Joint Venture with Pick ‘n’ Pay.
The AGL Leventis foundation, Leventis foundation, and AGL Cares are foundations set up by the company as part of its corporate social research drive.

The company has shown support to Red Cross, orphanages, and community outreaches and supported leadership training through LEAP Africa.

The current chairman is Mr. Ahmed Kazalma Mantey, while the Group MD/ CEO is Mr. Oluwaseun Abimisola Oni.

The Mandillas Group
The Mandillas Group was founded by John Basil Mandillas 70 years ago to do business in the Nigerian automobile industry. The company introduced the Volkswagen brand in the ’50s before the establishment of the Volkswagen Assembly plant in Nigeria, in which Mandilas became a partner.

Subsequently, Mandilas became a distributor of various auto brands such as Audi, Peugeot, Nissan, Daihatsu, Honda, Kia, and Skoda in the late ’90s.
The company is currently one of the distributors of Toyota in Nigeria and is also involved in auto sales of new and used cars, logistics, care rentals, fleet management and leasing, and after-sales services.
In honour of Artisanal day 2022, Mandilas Group limited donated technical toolboxes and equipment to artisans in the Lagos Island East Local Council Development Area (LCDA). The company also donated industrial cooling spare parts as educational resource material to the Students and Teachers of the Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB).
In addition, the company has been involved in medical outreaches and has donated resource materials to Bonny Island, and furniture to schools in Lagos.
The Group CEO is Ola-Ayo Adeloye.

Paterson-Zochonis (PZ Cussons)
PZ Cussons is an international consumer goods company founded in 1884 by George Paterson and George Zochonis as a commercial business between West Africa and the United Kingdom with Sierra Leone as a trading post in 1884.

Later in 1975, the firm acquired the Cussons Group, creating the PZ Cussons we know today.
The company is now focused on three core categories: Hygiene, Baby, and Beauty which has produced household brands such as Cussons Baby, Carex hand wash, Joy soap, Premier soap, Robb, Morning Fresh, Kings vegetable oil, Mamador oil, and many others.
The company is involved in various sustainability initiatives which include its Palm Oil Action Plan and the expansion of its reduction targets for energy, plastics, water, and waste.
Panagiotis Katsis is the current Chief Executive Officer/ MD.

Flour Mills Nigeria
Flour Mills of Nigeria was founded by a Greek businessman, George Coumantaros, in 1960 as a diversified agribusiness company. Today, it is a holding company with a vertically integrated business model. Its parent company is Excelsior shipping company.

The company has various subsidiaries and is contributing to the growth of the agro-allied industry, food, and consumer goods, shipping, and logistics amongst others in Nigeria.
The company is into flour milling, production, and distribution of a diverse range of food products. Its portfolio of products includes flour, pasta, noodles, breakfast cereals, margarine, and spread, vegetable oils, and refined sugar. The flagship brand of the company is Golden Penny Flour. Others are Golden Penny noodles, Spaghetti, granulated sugar, etc. FMN employs over 12,000.
The former CEO and chairman of FMN are John Coumataros, son of the late founder. The current MD/CEO is Omoboye Olusanya.
FMN PLC has invested more than N150 billion over the past ten years to execute its core business strategy to aid the agricultural sector and infrastructure.
Asides from its sustainability strategy, the company has an active CSR initiative that stems from five key areas which are:

Education, research and skills development, Environmental Sustainability, Health, safety, and welfare, Infrastructural Development, and Security.

Source:https://nairametrics.com/2023/01/07/meet-4-of-the-largest-greek-owned-companies-in-nigeria/

senatordave1:
Were in osun are you from

From Obokun LGA, but based in Osogbo.

Salvador1:
bro u as OBIdent supporter.
Pls we OBIdent don't spread fake pictures like Tinubu bandits.
That guy u are quoting is telling u the truth that picture is from festac million March in 1st Oct last year.

Don't mind him.

senatordave1:
Tinubu needs to get at least 60% in all Yoruba states to get a chance so osun people must behave

The election is substantially between Tinubu and Atiku in Osun. Obi and others are just not close there. I see Tinubu getting very close to 60% of the votes in Osun, if not up to or more than that.

Apart from the fact that he has his footsoldiers and structure still very solidly on ground here, the 'omo wa ni ' and the Anti-Fulani sentiment factors are very strong in his favour in this election.

senatordave1:
Can atiku get 25% on Osun

Very well, though he might not win Osun. Osun has always been almost 50:50 APC and PDP strong base,in my personal estimation.

The number of Senatorial and House of Reps PDP candidates contesting, coupled with the Governor's incumbency weight may help Atiku get the needed 25%.

Eriokanmi:
weldone. I watched the video so ,no need to argue with you. I wasn't expecting a quarter of that crowd

OK. I understand you.

Eriokanmi:
For an igboman to pool so much crowd in Tinubu's home state , those who attended willingly without being coerced by one iyaloja or induced with 2k, then Tinubu's popularity is questionable in the south west.

If you know how narrow-spaced the Freedom Park used for Obi's campaign today is, you would know that Obi has got a long way to go for depending on such number of people filling such a little space,even after his people have used canopies to narrow down the space the more.


Freedom Park is at the popular Old Garage, located in the very heart of Osogbo. It's a place that, by default, is always populated on a normal day, with or with no political campaign.

I myself was there at the campaign ground today, as an attracted onlooker.

julaion:
That pic was taken today on the street of pain,if you no like am going snap ur own,this urchin work too dey difficult for you

Stop being a defiant liar!
Look at the screenshot of the several places the same picture has been used as that of Obi supporters' rally.

julaion:
more

Don't be a cheat! That picture up there has been long used as a picture of the Obidients' rally in Benin City. It is not a picture of today's LP campaign in Osogbo.

Modified:
I just found out now that the same picture is all over the twitter Space. It has been used as a picture of the Obidients' rallies in Uyo, Imo, Lagos, and Delta in the past. Now you posted it here as a picture of Obi's campaign in Osogbo today! Which one do we believe now?

xevove2061:
Anybody saying obi no get infrastructure to him name never go anambra before

Governor Charles Soludo, one of his successors has said something about Obi's performance in infrastructure.


"In Anambra State, Quality roads are referred to Ngige roads while the roads washing off are called Peter Obi roads" - Soludo.

“A Bishop recently publicly advised that I should please try to construct the “Ngige type of quality roads”, stating that the ones done by his successor (that is, Peter Obi) had washed off, while Ngige’s remained. I promised and we are delivering quality roads that Anambra has not seen before.” - Soludo. https://pmnewsnigeria-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/pmnewsnigeria.com/2022/11/14/peter-obi-threw-anambra-into-massive-poverty-level-as-governor-soludo/?amp=1&amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16729327134095&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fpmnewsnigeria.com%2F2022%2F11%2F14%2Fpeter-obi-threw-anambra-into-massive-poverty-level-as-governor-soludo%2F

Chris Ngige has said something about it too. He was Obi's predecessor.

"When you get to that state, you will know. All the notable roads there (in Anambra), are the roads constructed by Ngige between 2003 and 2006.”

About the roads constructed by Obi, Ngige said,

" They are all washed off; those ones are gone. They didn’t last more than five years, they are gone.”

https://punchng-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/punchng.com/presidency-anambra-roads-constructed-by-peter-obi-are-all-washed-off-ngige/?amp=&amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16729327134095&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fpunchng.com%2Fpresidency-anambra-roads-constructed-by-peter-obi-are-all-washed-off-ngige%2F

Those are people who have not only been there; they have seen Anambra in and out.

aariwa:
They were expecting PO to move to same old path of renting crowds for campaign but he is already charting a new course in Nigerian political history of what a campaign should be

Really amusing comment. Obi is charting a "new course" toward an unproductive non-result-oriented outcome in politics of election, which is always a game of numbers everywhere it is played in the world.

AcuraZDX:
While other candidates are mocking him, he's busy talking to the people, the real voters!!

The real voters are on the streets, not in cosy offices and air-conditioned halls of Ivory Towers.

Deeply sorry for her for losing her husband.

The same lethargic spirit that weakened Croatia against Argentina is surprisingly working against France in this game!

Goalkeeper saved Argentina last last.

Argentina in the Semi-Finals

2nd loss to Neds

Loss to NEd

Argentina may be going home!

Penalty

If Netherlands lose this match, the pain would be more than losing it with 2 goals down.

If Netherlands had played like this from the beginning before conceding goals, they would have taken out Argentina in 90 minutes.

I said it. Anything can happen.

It is now a street fight o.!

Goaaaal. Neds

Anything can still happen, anyway.

End of the road for Netherlands. Penalty!!!

You talk of the most difficult state to govern, and you base it on the number of wealthy people residing in that State alone? This is really amusing!

Accepting, without conceding, that the number of wealthy people residing in a State is the sole or main index determining the governability of the State, how do you take Anambra and then comfortably leave out a State like Lagos?

Do you know the number of wealthy people resident in Lagos State alone, judging by all global standards of rankings, from multi-billionaires to billionaires, down to multi-millionaires, millionaires and then the simply rich and widely connected people in their uncountable numbers?

There are people that are neither rich nor poor but are powerfully connected both within and beyond Nigeria who can make governance a hell for a Government. This calibre of people are plenty in Lagos State.

Goaaaal! France

[quote author=DeLaRue post=117948841][/quote]Yes, you're correct. It's also a factor.

omonnakoda:
How is that different from private financing?

In Public Financing, because that's one of the major considering factors in eligibility for borrowing. In private (corporate) financing, I think it is more of collateral assets.