Industrialist Of The Year-Auwalu Rano

One name that continues to be a reference point in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector is A. A Rano Nigeria Limited, a company established in Kano in 1994. From a humble beginning, the founder and Chairman, Alhaji (Dr.) Auwalu Abdullahi Rano commenced the business of marketing and distributing petroleum products on a very small scale. He built his first retail outlet in Kano State in 1996 and incorporated A. A Rano Nigeria Limited in 2002.

Last year, Rano proved his worth when he was awarded a marginal oil field license by the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to exploit hydrocarbon resources.

Rano was born on June 9, 1944, in Lausu village, in Rano Local Government Area of Kano State. As a young entrepreneur, he had the dream of becoming a leader in the downstream sub-sector of the Nigerian petroleum industry. That dream has blossomed into a multi-billion naira integrated oil and gas company with over 600 trucks and 115 retail outlets. The company has grown to become one of Africa’s largest independent petroleum trading companies with a net worth valued at over $9 billion.

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Within its 25 years of operations, AA Rano has subsidiaries, including Rano Petrotrade Limited, Ranogaz Limited, AA Rano Transport Limited, and Rano Lubricants Limited. The company has been enjoying unprecedented growth in recent years, which is evident in the construction of its 56 million-liter tank farm in Lagos, and the commissioning of its newly acquired vessel, alongside the 20,000 metric tonnes capacity LPG plant in Lagos.

AA Rano’s growth and strategic expansion into the upstream sector of the Nigerian oil and gas industry (Exploration & Production) earned it the lifting right of 45,000/BPD of Nigerian premium crude oil under the government’s Direct Sale Direct Purchase (DSDP) system. The company was engaged as an off-taker of Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) under the 2019- 2021 domestic arrangement with NNPC.

Apart from being a successful businessman, Rano is a renowned philanthropist. He founded the renowned A. A Rano Foundation, a non-governmental and non-profit organization that focuses on community development projects, including health, education, provision of potable water, youth, and women empowerment. The foundation also supports students with tuition fees and pays the hospital bills of indigent patients.

For his feats in business and industry, Rano is The Sun Industrialist of the Year.

From Adewale Sanyaolu