this rapidly developing region. Barbedos Oil & Gas Services, for example, has capitalized on its presence in a newly deregulated market by securing the finance lines necessary to maintain growth while streamlining operations, thus enabling fuel oil importation and exportation via a 100 per cent Nigerian business. Additionally, Barbedos Ventures has fed Nigeria as one of the leading providers of fertilizers and agricultural chemicals in northern Nigeria, while Barbedos Cars Limited has met the demands of Nigeria’s fast-growing transportation and automobile industries. Shettima’s entrepreneurial reach has even extended to the skies via Skyjet Aviation Services and Barbedos Aviation Services Limited, a charted jet operator and flight services company, respectively. As the founder and chief executive officer of the Barbedos Group, Shettima leads an influential business conglomerate that extends to a number of Nigerian industries. Because Shettima’s companies cover a range of business functions, including production, distribution, and importing, they are sensitive not only to the health of the Nigerian economy, but also to foreign investor interest in the country. Throughout his career as one of Nigeria’s top businessmen, Shettima has sought to utilize his entrepreneurial energies to better the lives of his fellow countrymen. Africa as a whole and Nigeria in particular have undergone massive growth during the past quarter century, and the top men and women across numerous sectors of the African economy are joining international partners to oversee the economic maturation of nations across the continent. In his own efforts to build a new Africa, Kashim Bukar Shettima has helped transform the nation’s econmy through his multifaceted conglomerate, Barbedos Group of Companies, which currently serves as one of the country’s top enterprises in several sectors. Barbedos Ventures Limited, the Group’s initial business, quickly became one of the most successful agribusiness firms in northern Nigeria. It supplied food products, chemicals, and fertilizer to public- and private-sector farmers and companies throughout the region. Following this success, Kashim Bukar Shettima established Barbedos Cars Limited to take advantage of the rapid transportation sector growth in Nigeria. The firm offers vehicles ranging from luxury Mercedes Benz cars to armored trucks for security applications. Since finding success with consumer and commercial products, Barbedos Group has expanded its interests to natural resources through Barbedos Oil & Gas Services Limited, a 100 per cent Nigerian-owned company focused on oil trading in partnership with NNPC/PPMC refiner-
Business Courage
Monday, March 2, 2015
ies. With $300 million in stable financing through a network of Nigerian and international capital sources, Barbedos Oil & Gas Services has been able to take advantage of short, medium, and long-term contracts in order to increase market share. With a growing expertise in the gas oil and fuel oil markets, as well as an interest in commodities ranging from crude oil to refined products, Barbedos Oil & Gas Services has flourished under Kashim Bukar Shettima’s leadership. For example, Shettima has forged relationships with Nigerian sources like Warri Refinery and Port Harcourt Refinery in order to capitalise on the deregulation of the oil and gas sectors. Most recently, Barbedos Group entered into the aviation industry through two companies, Skyjet Aviation Services Ltd. and Barbedos Aviation Services Limited. A chartered aircraft provider with a management team that has decades of collective experience in the aviation sector, Skyjet Aviation also served as an authorized sales representative for Embraer jets in several countries in West Africa. Barbedos Aviation Services, the newest company in the Barbedos Group family, offers a suite of aircraft management services for clients in need of flight crews, insurance coverage, and other necessities. Over the course of his entrepreneurial career, Kashim Bukar Shettima has accumulated a wide range of achievements in the energy, agribusiness, transportation, and aviation industries, earning considerable recognition in his native Nigeria. As the founder of Barbedos Group of Companies, he heads a diversified conglomerate of business interests, the first of which began in 1991 as Barbedos Ventures Limited, a fertilizer and agricultural supply firm. With Barbedos Group, Shettima owns and operates subsidiaries such as Barbedos Oil and Gas Services Limited, Barbedos Ventures Limited, Barbedos Cars Limited, Skyjet Aviation Services Limited, and Barbedos Aviation Services Limited, a multifaceted aircraft staffing, maintenance, insurance, and brokerage firm incorporated in 2011. In tandem with Barbedos Aviation, Skyjet Aviation offers charter flights to destinations throughout Nigeria, Gabon, Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea. Aside from his aviation companies, Shettima founded Barbedos Cars Limited, through which he provides a vast array of transportation options to private businesses and government clients, from cars and trucks to armored vehicles. An authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer, Barbedos Cars offers the highest-quality vehicles for sale to clients nationwide. Prior to the formation of Barbedos Group, Kashim Bukar Shettima had developed a successful oil and gas trading
Shettima
company that specializes in the import and export of fuel oil and naphtha products. Today, he continues to build Barbedos Oil and Gas into a full-service exploration, refining, and distribution firm. In addition, Shettima runs Barbedos Ventures, the oldest of his subsidiaries and a leading supplier of fertilizers and related agricultural chemicals to clients in Nigeria and elsewhere. As head of Barbedos Group of Companies in Kaduna, Nigeria, Shettima oversees a diversified family of businesses that help grow the country’s economy and provide essential services to its people. The most recent of these, Barbedos Aviation Services Limited, furthers Kashim Bukar Shettima’s efforts in the domestic transportation arena, offering the full spectrum of aviation maintenance, insurance, security, and brokerage services to clients across the country. Formed in 2011, Barbedos Aviation Services upholds a high standard of excellence in the aviation sector and thrives under the management of Mohammed H. I. Wali, a flight engineer with more than 25 years of experience in his field. With a mission to deliver highest-quality flight crew staffing, airline operation and maintenance, accounting, and administrative functions to its clients, the company has built a solid reputation in just a few years. In addition, the company works with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority to obtain the necessary maintenance and flight operations clearance certificates to ensure safety in all aspects of aviation. Over the course of his entrepreneurial career, Kashim Bukar Shettima has accumulated a wide range of achievements in the energy, agribusiness, transportation, and aviation industries, earning considerable recognition in the country. While at the initial stage, Barbedos Ventures Limited focused on supplying the private and public sectors in Nigeria with imported fertilizers, chemicals, and agricultural products, with the coming on stage of Barbedos
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Over the course of his entrepreneurial career, Kashim Bukar Shettima has accumulated a wide range of achievements in the energy, agribusiness, transportation, and aviation industries, earning considerable recognition in his native Nigeria
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National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
Group of Companies, Shettima developed and expanded operations to encompass aviation and automotive divisions, the import and export of oil and natural gas. In 2004, he added the position of director of Woodcraft Industries Limited to his resume. Today, the company is in a period of expansion as it concentrates increasingly on goods and services in economically sensitive market segments. The Barbedos Group’s Oil and Gas Services Limited division originated as an independent oil trading concern with interests in both crude and refined oil products. In the current deregulated climate of the oil industry in Nigeria, this division can take advantage of emerging sets of opportunities for expansion and diversification. Barbedos Ventures Limited focuses on supplying the private and public sectors in Nigeria with imported fertilizers, chemicals, and agricultural products. In another area of business, Barbedos Cars Limited furnishes sales and service of a wide variety of conventional automobiles, as well as trucks, exotic cars, and professional armored vehicles. In the field of air travel, Barbedos Aviation Services Limited serves as a management unit, while Skyjet Aviation Services Ltd owns and operates a system of air transport and charter services for the public.
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Interestingly, Shettima has supplemented his practical knowledge of national and world trends in business and economics with attendance at a variety of seminars and continuing education classes. He recently earned a certificate in Professional Studies in Security Awareness and Strategic Leadership from Albion College at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He holds an honorary doctorate from Commonwealth University Belize, and has attended additional business-related training in Europe, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates. Shettima and his team at the Barbedos Group are currently focused on the company’s growth in the field of economically sensitive products and services. He continues to use the Barbedos Group’s infrastructure, depth of capital funding, and skilled personnel pool to direct corporate growth throughout West Africa and beyond. Regarded as one of Nigeria’s fast-paced business leaders for more than two decades, Shettima’s award-winning career as an entrepreneur and philanthropist has placed him among the top echelon of Africa’s business world. The chief executive officer and chairman of Barbedos Group of Companies Ltd he has earned such honors as the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Kaduna State Youth Political Forum and an honorary doctorate from the United Arab Emirates’ Commonwealth University Belize. Shettima has also earned such honors as MTN Communications’ Business Enterprise Award, ThisDay Award for Young Global Champion. Also notable for his contributions to the community, he maintains an active campaign of charitable giving through his KBS Foundation, which helps underserved Nigerians through various education and health care initiatives. Whether through scholarships for higher education or lifesaving operations for serious medical conditions, Shettima and his colleagues at the KBS Foundation, strive to improve the quality of life for the next generation of Nigerians. The KBS Foundation has been providing for the health care, social service, and educational needs of underprivileged Nigerians. Founded in 2012, KBS Foundation is an expression of Shettima (Chairman of Barbedos Group) undying love and care for the less privileged. KBS Foundation is committed to enhancing the quality of life of Nigerians by supporting initiatives that improve access to good living, education, health and leadership. The foundation is known for Charity & Welfare Support, KBS Scholarship, Leadership Development Training, Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES) and the KBS Kids Club. BC