₦airaland Forum

99 years in Nigeria: The El-Khalils and the Seven-Up legacy


Ninety-nine years after landing in Nigeria through Mohammed El-Khalil, the El-Khalil family has built a legacy in Nigeria, with the Seven-Up Bottling Company.

Faysal and Sari featured during the fireside chat at the Family Business Summit 2025, organised by PwC in conjunction with BusinessDay. Speaking during the chat, they provided insights into how they have built one of the biggest family businesses in Nigeria.

Faysal, who served as MD of SevenUp from 1978 to 2005, put the age of the business at 65. He said, “The first bottle from our factory rolled out on the 1st of October 1960. So, we celebrate two anniversaries on the 1st of October every year.”


Read Also: SBC: 65 years serving Nigeria – Businessday NG

The arrival of Mohammed El-Khalil in Nigeria
Sari commenced the conversation, providing a detailed summary of his grandfather’s sojourn to Nigeria. He highlighted that in the early years of the 20th century, when Lebanon was still under Ottoman rule, Mohammed El-Khalil set out in search of a better life. This trip took him to Mexico, where he encountered life’s difficulties. However, on a trip back to Lebanon, he landed in Marseille, France where he encountered a Lebanese couple.


According to Sari, a Lebanese couple instructed Mohammed, “You must go to Nigeria, you will find gold on the sides of the streets.”

In 1926, he landed in Nigeria.

The older Faysal continued the story. Like many newcomers at the time in Nigeria, Mohammed began in trading, buying bales of textiles and selling them in Lagos. Success in those days meant expanding into Balogun Street or Martin Street, and Mohammed was determined to get there.

Through discipline, thrift, and persistence, his trading business flourished. By 1927, he diversified into road transport, launching a venture that would, over time, become the largest privately owned transport company in West Africa.


Even as his business expanded, Mohammed remained deeply connected to his roots. He returned to Lebanon, where he met and married his wife. Though much of his time was spent in Nigeria, together they raised eight children, six boys and two girls. Several of them were born in Nigeria, reflecting the deep bond the family maintained with the country that had become their second home.

As the older children completed their education abroad, the family began to see a new chapter unfolding. By the late 1950s, when his eldest son Anwar returned to Nigeria, Mohammed realised it was time to diversify once again. This decision marked the beginning of the family’s transition from trading and transport into new sectors, a shift that would eventually lead to the creation of Seven-Up Bottling Company.

Sari’s journey to the top of the family business
For Sari El-Khalil, the current MD of the company, the story of Seven-Up is also the story of home. “I’ve spent most of my life in Nigeria,” he said. “I grew up here, son of the soil.”

Long before he carried an executive title, Sari’s earliest memories were not of boardrooms, but of trucks and bottling lines. As a boy, he noted that he would return from school to the company’s offices in Ijora, Lagos, running around the yard, trying to change the oil of trucks, and occasionally joining door-to-door sales teams.

“Even when I was in Lebanon,” he recalled, “I’d come back for the summers. And instead of partying with my friends, I’d get on the trucks and do sales. It’s been in my blood since I was very young, part of my DNA.”

But that early exposure didn’t translate into entitlement. After earning his undergraduate degree in Boston, Sari returned to Nigeria for a five-year internship in the company. “The plan was always to go back for an MBA, get higher education, and then come back,” he said. “But my mentor at the time advised me to step out, to see something different.”

That advice changed everything. Sari worked abroad for five years with PepsiCo, gaining first-hand corporate experience outside the family ecosystem. “It was the best decision,” he reflected. “It helped me understand what it means to work in a structured corporate environment, to be accountable, to earn your place. And at the same time, it made me appreciate even more what it means to own something, the difference between being an employee and being an owner.”

When he finally returned to Seven-Up, it wasn’t out of obligation, but conviction. “It was never forced,” he said. “I was given choices, and it led me back here.”

Family governance and constitution

For all its decades of expansion and commercial success, Faysal recounts that the El-Khalil story is not just about building factories, securing distribution networks, or selling soft drinks. It is also a story about family, about how the bonds that built a business can just as easily be tested by it.

After establishing Seven-Up Bottling Company and steering it into one of Nigeria’s most recognised consumer brands, he noted that the first generation of the El-Khalil family faced a governance challenge.

“Some founders fall into what we call the founder’s trap,” he reflected, recalling the early years after their father’s passing. “Our eldest brother, who led Seven-Up, became a sort of second founder. He was a visionary, but he didn’t want to let go.”

That tension, between continuity and change, shaped much of the company’s evolution. Faysal noted that, like many family businesses, questions arose about who should lead: was it by seniority or by merit? How long should one remain in the office? Should pay and influence be tied to bloodlines or to performance?

Out of this came a resolve to create what they called the family constitution, a detailed playbook to define how the family and the business would coexist. It outlined governance rules, leadership succession, retirement ages, and even boundaries for those who could join the enterprise.

naijapikin2:
See lebanese o

These set of people who were known to be beggars not too long ago.

If were raised in the north you likely would have known them to be beggars. As at then even if you tried adopting them, with their poverty they'd still refuse.

naijapikin2:
See lebanese o

These set of people who were known to be beggars not too long ago.

If were raised in the north you likely would have known them to be beggars. As at then even if you tried adopting them, with their poverty they'd still refuse.

faceland:
I have never seen a Labanese bigger. They are usual crooks. Don't stand between them and money.

FreeStuffsNG:
Smh.

Lebanese have never been beggars or known as beggars!

You're obviously not from Lagos
Go and read about who we call them in Lagos.

I know the people you are probably confusing them with but I will not tell you here.

naijapikin2:
Did you read my post at all. I said we that grew up in the north. Oga they were beggars. Who did you think I was confusing them with

Don't role me Into your tribal battles o.. I just dey my own jeje.

FreeStuffsNG:
Smh.
They're not crooks and again, you don’t know what they are particularly known for. It's in that report though

FreeStuffsNG:
You're making same mistake and it's pathetic.
Lebanese are not beggars! You're confusing them with another set of foreigners.

naijapikin2:
See lebanese o

These set of people who were known to be beggars not too long ago.

If were raised in the north you likely would have known them to be beggars. As at then even if you tried adopting them, with their poverty they'd still refuse.

faceland:
I have never seen a Labanese begger. They are usual crooks and extremely enterprising. Don't stand between them and money.

You know the stereotypes of Jews? That is what a Labanese is (an Arab Jew). 💰

grandstar:
You must be referring to the Berbers Touregs from Niger.

naijapikin2:
Did you read my post at all. I said we that grew up in the north. Oga they were beggars. Who did you think I was confusing them with

Don't role me Into your tribal battles o.. I just dey my own jeje.

naijapikin2:
See lebanese o

These set of people who were known to be beggars not too long ago.

If were raised in the north you likely would have known them to be beggars. As at then even if you tried adopting them, with their poverty they'd still refuse.

naijapikin2:
See lebanese o

These set of people who were known to be beggars not too long ago.

If were raised in the north you likely would have known them to be beggars. As at then even if you tried adopting them, with their poverty they'd still refuse.

OlujobaSamuel:
What's the relationship between 7up and PepsiCo
What happened to Mountain Dew also
There should be a further link to get more of these insights

FreeStuffsNG:
On a trip back to Lebanon, he landed in Marseille, France where he encountered a Lebanese couple. According to Sari, a Lebanese couple instructed Mohammed, “You must go to Nigeria (Lagos), you will find gold on the sides of the streets.”

In 1926, he landed in Lagos.

The older Faysal continued the story. Like many newcomers at the time in Nigeria, Mohammed began in trading, buying bales of textiles and selling them in Lagos. Success in those days meant expanding into Balogun Street or Martin Street, and Mohammed was determined to get there.

Very inspiring 👏 🙌

As far back as over a century ago, Lagos has been prosperous and there has been prosperity in Lagos of global reckoning that the prosperity of our city was on the lips of international audience.

This was a time that some parts of Nigeria were yet to be exposed and still covering their private parts with leaves.

To the glory of God and with tremendous gratitude to our forebears, I am happy to state that, till date and forever more, our city remains prosperous and peaceful.

We are LAGOS. We are the global centre of Excellence!

Please bring your legitimate and lawful investments to Lagos. Invest in Lagos for the best returns on investment.

God bless Lagos State and Nigeria forever more!


Documentations compiled by archivist Pa Oloko Alli-Balogun, an octogenarian from Lagos.

The population of Lagos Colony was analysed into 'Yoruba' and 'Non-Yoruba' tribes:

1. Eko tribe had fallen from 57% in 1872 to 23.6% 20 years later.
2. Popo or Egun tribe was 15.85%,

3. Other Yoruba groups
Oyo - 11.6%
Ijebu - 11.01%
Awori - 9.26%
Egba - 6.05%
Ijesha - 4.32%
Egbado - 3.63%
Ekiti/Efon people - 1.76%

4. Non-Yoruba groups
Nupe/Tapa - 1.86%
Hausa - 1.86%
The Kru - 1.37%.

The strength of the Eko tribe was concentrated in Wards A, B, C and D of Lagos Town and Harbour, and the Central District of Ebute Metta/Yaba.

The Aworis were concentrated in the Central District and the Popo's or Egun in the Western District.


This information can be obtained from The Nigerian Nolstagia group 1960 - 1980 project on www.facebook.com

BadBradley:
7up is using Pepsi franchise I think

FreeStuffsNG:
On a trip back to Lebanon, he landed in Marseille, France where he encountered a Lebanese couple. According to Sari, a Lebanese couple instructed Mohammed, “You must go to Nigeria (Lagos), you will find gold on the sides of the streets.”

In 1926, he landed in Lagos.

The older Faysal continued the story. Like many newcomers at the time in Nigeria, Mohammed began in trading, buying bales of textiles and selling them in Lagos. Success in those days meant expanding into Balogun Street or Martin Street, and Mohammed was determined to get there.

Very inspiring 👏 🙌

As far back as over a century ago, Lagos has been prosperous and there has been prosperity in Lagos of global reckoning that the prosperity of our city was on the lips of international audience.

This was a time that some parts of Nigeria were yet to be exposed and still covering their private parts with leaves.

To the glory of God and with tremendous gratitude to our forebears, I am happy to state that, till date and forever more, our city remains prosperous and peaceful.

We are LAGOS. We are the global centre of Excellence!

Please bring your legitimate and lawful investments to Lagos. Invest in Lagos for the best returns on investment.

God bless Lagos State and Nigeria forever more!


Documentations compiled by archivist Pa Oloko Alli-Balogun, an octogenarian from Lagos.

The population of Lagos Colony was analysed into 'Yoruba' and 'Non-Yoruba' tribes:

1. Eko tribe had fallen from 57% in 1872 to 23.6% 20 years later.
2. Popo or Egun tribe was 15.85%,

3. Other Yoruba groups
Oyo - 11.6%
Ijebu - 11.01%
Awori - 9.26%
Egba - 6.05%
Ijesha - 4.32%
Egbado - 3.63%
Ekiti/Efon people - 1.76%

4. Non-Yoruba groups
Nupe/Tapa - 1.86%
Hausa - 1.86%
The Kru - 1.37%.

The strength of the Eko tribe was concentrated in Wards A, B, C and D of Lagos Town and Harbour, and the Central District of Ebute Metta/Yaba.

The Aworis were concentrated in the Central District and the Popo's or Egun in the Western District.


This information can be obtained from The Nigerian Nolstagia group 1960 - 1980 project on www.facebook.com

BadBradley:
7up is using Pepsi franchise I think

Mrchippychappy:
Bro dey would argue with you, in their mind even the lowest person of Arab extraction is better than them, it comes with their religious belief.

These lebanese people were even in CMS back then in the 90s pulling on our shirt when I would go out to by things with my Dad, dem go surround us dey ask for money. Even sef, those park workers (back then Agbero never dey yet) dey knack some of the Lebanese girls that were much older in the garage, ask anyone who grew up in Lagos around the busy areas, they would tell you all this.

Rybnyk:
You must be confusing them with shuwa Arabs or Chadians you see begging on the road.

FreeStuffsNG:
On a trip back to Lebanon, he landed in Marseille, France where he encountered a Lebanese couple. According to Sari, a Lebanese couple instructed Mohammed, “You must go to Nigeria (Lagos), you will find gold on the sides of the streets.”

In 1926, he landed in Lagos.

The older Faysal continued the story. Like many newcomers at the time in Nigeria, Mohammed began in trading, buying bales of textiles and selling them in Lagos. Success in those days meant expanding into Balogun Street or Martin Street, and Mohammed was determined to get there.

Very inspiring 👏 🙌

As far back as over a century ago, Lagos has been prosperous and there has been prosperity in Lagos of global reckoning that the prosperity of our city was on the lips of international audience.

This was a time that some parts of Nigeria were yet to be exposed and still covering their private parts with leaves.

To the glory of God and with tremendous gratitude to our forebears, I am happy to state that, till date and forever more, our city remains prosperous and peaceful.

We are LAGOS. We are the global centre of Excellence!

Please bring your legitimate and lawful investments to Lagos. Invest in Lagos for the best returns on investment.

God bless Lagos State and Nigeria forever more!


Documentations compiled by archivist Pa Oloko Alli-Balogun, an octogenarian from Lagos.

The population of Lagos Colony was analysed into 'Yoruba' and 'Non-Yoruba' tribes:

1. Eko tribe had fallen from 57% in 1872 to 23.6% 20 years later.
2. Popo or Egun tribe was 15.85%,

3. Other Yoruba groups
Oyo - 11.6%
Ijebu - 11.01%
Awori - 9.26%
Egba - 6.05%
Ijesha - 4.32%
Egbado - 3.63%
Ekiti/Efon people - 1.76%

4. Non-Yoruba groups
Nupe/Tapa - 1.86%
Hausa - 1.86%
The Kru - 1.37%.

The strength of the Eko tribe was concentrated in Wards A, B, C and D of Lagos Town and Harbour, and the Central District of Ebute Metta/Yaba.

The Aworis were concentrated in the Central District and the Popo's or Egun in the Western District.


This information can be obtained from The Nigerian Nolstagia group 1960 - 1980 project on www.facebook.com