|
||
 |
ne of Nigeria’s new breed of private enterprises, Amazon Energy is a company on the move. Totally Nigerian-owned, Amazon is an engineering, procurement and construction company that is heavily focused on the energy market.
It has entered into various strategic alliances with foreign companies with proven technical ability to be able to offer the best international standards to its clients. Its vision now is to grow into one of sub-Saharan Africa’s premier engineering contractors, servicing the oil and gas sector and the continent’s growing electric power industry.
Amazon is headed by Chief Executive Officer Olayinka Fawehinmi, a former engineer at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). During his time at NNPC, Mr Fawehinmi says he was learning his trade, preparing for the leap into business. When opportunities began to arise, he set up Amazon towards the end of 1999.
“I’m a businessman, and entrepreneurs are risk takers,” he says. “That has really helped to fashion what we are today. Amazon was a business idea eight to nine years ago and today it has grown into a company.”
The firm has focused on providing high-level engineering services to oil and gas projects in Nigeria, though the intention is to expand to offer a full range of construction services.
Its engineering office is one of the finest in the country. “We were the first Nigerian company to provide an all-Nigerian project management team for an ExxonMobil project.”
For this particular venture, the Nigerian team was split across multiple locations, both in and out of Nigeria, for the duration of the project. Mr Fawehinmi says this work has created a platform for the future. Since then, Amazon has completed a succession of projects for ExxonMobil, among others.
Meeting the demands of such illustrious clients has stretched the company but provided a good grounding in the rigours of the industry. The company has also followed its clients into challenging new areas such as the offshore environment, where it is engaged in the marine contracting business.
The emphasis is always on providing quality service and value to customers, whoever they may be, and wherever they operate. “At this point in time we don’t necessarily want to be the biggest company in the market, but we want to be the best at what we do and we want to keep clients coming back,” says Mr Fawehinmi.
Emphasis on value and quality service for clients
To progress its marine ambitions, Amazon has teamed up with several British and Irish partners to further hone its offshore expertise. It also has a partnership with an American firm to provide technical manpower to major clients, with some working on Chevron’s flagship Agbami deepwater development.
According to Mr Fawehinmi, it is no coincidence that these services are offered through a third party. “The oil and gas industry is a worldwide business and the requirements are world class. There are no Nigerian standards and there is no reinventing the wheel.”
Despite this apparent disadvantage, even prejudice, Amazon – like numerous other indigenous firms – is making headway in breaking the mould. In the future, these types of strategic partnerships could evolve into more concrete joint ventures in which Nigerian firms begin to gain recognition.
Mr Fawehinmi sees them as a necessary step in achieving longer term objectives. “It’s a short cut to being able to provide what the clients and the industry require,” he says.
Tel: +44 20 76296213, Fax: +44 20 74953707 - [email protected]