Benedict Peters, international business leader and founder of Aiteo Group has received two prestigious awards – the African Icon of the Year at the Foreign Investment Network (FIN), and Honorary Patron by Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources at the Honorary Patrons Dinner and Awards Night at an international petroleum summit in Abuja.
The awards, according to a press statement to Energy Window International was to recognize Benedict’s giant contributions – his visionary leadership and distinguished service, as well as what the statement had referred to as his “transformational disruption” of a sector dominated by International Oil Companies.
Extolling Aiteo Group’s contributions, the statement noted that the group’s 20-year evolution through Africa’s Oil and Gas sector was both exemplary and revolutionary – coming from the downstream embryonic stage, to becoming “a leading integrated energy conglomerate” with strategic investments in hydrocarbon (or commodities) exploration and production.
Michael Dragoyevich, Chief Executive Officer of Foreign Investment Network was quoted to have made the following remarks of the man at the centre of discussion: “Mr Peters has earned a unique honour to stand out among his peers as winner of the coveted FIN African Icon of the Year Award.”
Dedicating the award to all Aiteo employees worldwide, Benedict Peters who was also represented said “The award by FIN as its African Icon of the Year is awe-inspiring. It’s an honour to receive this type of recognition. Our modest efforts to provide Africa’s market places with top-quality energy solutions while being a reference point for indigenous capacity in oil and gas have clearly paid off, and we are proud of the fact that we continue to receive such prestigious distinction.”
Mr Peters who was reported to have ventured into the oil and gas sector as an entrepreneur in 1999 was trading mainly in the downstream sector when in 2015, his company, Aiteo won a bid for the largest onshore oil block in sub-Saharan Africa.
Other areas of investment the statement highlighted include mining and agriculture, infrastructure development, electricity generation and distribution, with a fast-developing retail distribution network. Peter’s group is focused, says the release, on serving the needs of communities across the continent through human and intellectual development, strategic asset base, technology and innovation, even as the group continues to widen, extending its transformational operations to different countries across Africa and Europe.
As a man with passion and penchant for youth empowerment, he has donated time and time again to support football on the African continent, one of which was his sponsorship to the Nigerian Football Federation through Aiteo, Aiteo CAF Awards, Aiteo Cup, seen as Nigeria’s foremost Cup event. Other generous contributions include assisting thousands of internally displaced persons in northern Nigeria, support for clean water sanitation initiatives in Africa, in partnership with Face Africa, improving the lives of over 25,000 people in rural Liberia and more. Peters also has a keen interest in social and environmental issues in the agricultural sector, chairing the Joseph Agro Foundation, which seeks to tackle high levels of unemployment and water shortage, as well as creating job opportunities for farmers in Africa.
Foreign Investment Network, FIN, a United Kingdom based company has been a key driver of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for Africa and other developing economies with over 20 years of landslide activities.
And Aiteo E&P is Nigeria’s foremost indigenous company with strong revenue base, a national energy champion which deploys sustainable HSE practices and technology with zero Lost Time Injuries in its 4 years of operation. The group is the owner of critical national energy infrastructure, Nembe Creek Trunk Line keeping key injectors including NewCross, Bellema Oil, Shell PDC in business and thus increasing Nigeria’s oil earnings. Aiteo’s prolific assets include Nigeria’s first producing well at Oloibiri.
