ADAPTATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE LOGISTICS INDUSTRY
A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA
Strength Through Supply Chain The supply chain and logistics industry is the key to connect trade and commerce, and equally for effective e-commerce services. We spoke to Seun Oni, Group MD and CEO of A.G. Leventis Nigeria, about the company’s endurance in the face of the pandemic, and its innovative developments in the sector Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Lewis Bush Looking back, I definitely see how the dots all connected to lead me to this point,” says Seun Oni, from A.G. Leventis Nigeria. “My domain field is in finance, professionally a Chartered Accountant, and I started my career after graduating schooling with PwC. Over the past 29 years, my career has evolved through key career milestones that have defined the essence of my leadership.” Now Oni sits as Group Managing Director and CEO of the company; A.G. Leventis (Nigeria) Ltd (AGL). AGL began as a trading business in Ghana in 1937. It has developed and transformed into a Conglomerate, with a major portion of its operations 2 | Africa Outlook issue 88
in supply chain and logistics, covering multiple aspects of the industry, from logistic solutions to truck assembly, and automobile sales. Other areas of the business are real estate, and retail. Prior to the start of the decade, the Nigerian logistics industry saw a surge of revenue leading up to 2020. However, it was one of the many sectors to be hit hard by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that followed. “Over the past decade, the industry experienced some moderate level of growth before the 2020 crisis. The industry was one of the fastest growth sectors of the economy. In 2018, the value was estimated at ₦250 billion ($694 million),” Oni elaborates. “But against the backdrop of an emerging recession, just after the last recession cycle of 2014-16, this is currently a challenging period for the sector.” “The industry can still be regarded as at a nascent stage. Its full potential is constrained by infrastructure challenges, the highly fragmented nature of the industry with over 500 players, enabling institutions are marred by high level bureaucracy, policy inconsistencies, and slow pace of much needed institutional reforms,” Oni adds.
Nigeria is ranked approximately 110 out of 168 countries in the World Bank Logistics Performance Index, and with the exception of South Africa (at 33), and Ivory Coast (in 50th place), the other African countries are above the 50th mark with a higher index for the West African countries. These challenges however open up a spectrum of opportunities for industry players that choose to leverage unique levers to drive a competitive advantage, despite the need for the acceleration of critical
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reforms. The sector, given its role in the facilitation and enabling of business competitiveness, is crucial in the economic transformation, as well as GDP expansion for the country.
STANDING STRONG: COMBATTING COVID It is fair to say that the COVID-19 pandemic changed industries around the world, but AGL rose to the challenge as soon as it presented itself. Faced by the pandemic, AGL decided to act immediately. From the
onset the company saw and prepared for the worst, treating it from the very beginning as an extended crisis. “We kicked in the crisis management team around the first week of March 2020 - immediately after we had the first reported index case. Our focus was directed at our employees, methods of working, client portfolio, and operational business continuity,” Oni informs us. “The shift to take the crisis head-on, early, focusing on what we can control and influence together as a team and
being overcautious, put us quickly in the position of putting together guidance to navigate our operations for remote working and connecting our branch operations across the country.” For the company, the primary focus remains the health (both physically and mentally), safety, and well-being of its employees. This people-centric practice is one of the many factors that set the company apart from its industry competitors. “Building an engagement platform to emotionally connect with the team, Africa Outlook issue 88 | 3
A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA being open in sharing real concerns, and integrating seamlessly into the new work norm, will continue to be a priority” Oni says. This people-centric attitude and focus is one of AGL’s key values. It is one of the many aspects that sets it above and apart from its industry competition, including resilience in the face of challenges, the strategic partnerships with OEMs, and the company’s drivers – the heart of AGL. “We take pride in our drivers (our delivery officers); we call them our frontline leaders. We focus on welfare, training, and effectiveness,
recognising that they are the first touchpoint for service experience,” Oni tells us proudly. “The network of our operational sites equally provides a reach that enables us provide immediate support intervention either as rest points on long journeys or for timely resolution of issues, and these are critical building blocks in securing driver wellbeing and effectiveness.” “Our heritage not only reflects a strong identity and connection to the country, but it reflects the power of resilience that has been embedded into our DNA,” she adds.
AT A GLANCE: COMPANY SERVICES Its pride is first in its heritage and long-standing roots in Nigeria and West Africa. A.G. Leventis started out as a trading company in Ghana established in 1937 by the Patriarch of the Leventis family, Chief Anastasios G. Leventis. In the following year 1938 the trading operations extended into Nigeria. The business portfolio has evolved since, and it now currently operate in five core areas, with 1,114 leaders (half are frontline – the Delivery Officers, managing the trucks), and an office is in Lagos with a support network of 18 operational sites. The core areas: 1. LOGISTICS – providing logistics solutions, mainly in haulage and distribution, to companies primarily in the FMCG space. 2. TRUCK ASSEMBLY – truck assembly from semi-knocked down components (SKD) with operating partnerships for the following brands: FOTON, EICHER, and LOVOL. On top of this it carries OEM spares for Volkswagen, and Mercedes Benz trucks. The plant operates out of Ibadan in Oyo State. 3. AUTOMOBILE SALES – heavy and light duty sales with the related after sales support and maintenance. The company operates from 18 maintenance facilities across the country, providing a strong network and reach for its customers, while being a critical enabler for the logistics business.
Eterna Eterna Plc is a trusted and reliable energy partner to A.G Leventis. We supply high performance Lubricants and quality Fuels to her diverse portfolio of companies across Nigeria. This relationship spans several years of providing energy solutions to A.G. Leventis’ different subsidiaries in the – Vehicle assembly & sales, Real Estate, Retail as well as Logistics sectors. We are glad to tread on this trajectory of growth with her in achieving her vision to become a conglomerate of pride with global repute in Africa. At Eterna, we manufacture, market and distribute lubricants and chemicals; trade in crude and operate a network of filling stations. Our plan is to further expand into the midstream and upstream sectors of the energy industry and to become Africa’s preferred energy company. OUR BUSINESS LINES Lubricants Manufacturing & Marketing Our Lubes Blending Plant is located in Sagamu, Ogun State. The Plant occupies a sprawling land mass of almost five hectares along the Lagos /Ibadan Expressway. It is one of only three plants in Africa that manufacture Castrol products. Eterna Plc is the sole licensee for Castrol products in Nigeria. We also manufacture and market the Eterna brand of lubricants. Fuel Stations Our retail presence expansion drive has commenced. We have secured strategic sites and are developing a network of modern fuel stations. We have over 60 retail sites across Nigeria. Petroleum Storage Terminals
4. REAL ESTATE – a mixed use (residential and commercial) portfolio with estimated market value of over ₦35 billion ($89 million), and over 60 properties across the country.
We own and operate a 30 million litre facility for storing petroleum products at the Ibru Jetty, Ibafon, Apapa, Lagos.
5. RETAIL – this is a joint venture with Pick n Pay, South Africa. Pick n Pay is the second largest supermarket chain in South Africa and it will be the operators of the joint venture. The venture will operate under the trade name Pikwik Nigeria Ltd.
Toll Blending We offer Toll Blending services for a select range of lubricants.
www.eternaplc.com
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A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA
Strategic partnerships with OEMs of the truck brands gives AGL the upper hand in the market. Through this, the company is able to connect the supply side of the truck components, all through to the local assembly, access to spares and localised maintenance with on-demand support from the manufacturer provided, throughout the life cycle of the trucks.
DIGITALISATION Yet an additional aspect that places AGL beyond the industry competition is its active digitalisation processes that see it adapt to the growing digital age. Oni elaborates. “As a business, we have and continue to navigate the different curveballs that come with the operating environment and we are still very much here. We equally build in agility and ensure we keep pace with innovation – we learn and adapt quickly. “We are proud of our new corporate website: www.agleventis.com, it showcases our history and our brands. 6 | Africa Outlook issue 88
We believe in the power of storytelling, after 83 years and still going strong, we want to see our website constantly evolve but equally dot the paths of our journey in this great continent.” The website showcases the facets of the AGL Tribe (the employees), from the nuts and bolts of its technicians in the workplace, to the diversity across the workplace, and the best of what we do every day to drive execution. “The website is our canvas, and we shall continuously refresh this and make it more interactive in engaging with our customers and visitors to the site,” Oni tells us. “For example, we are currently working on extending the Real Estate site to leverage a lot more interactive technology like virtual tours of our commercial and residential properties, which allows a real-time interface engagement with the users, so watch out as we unveil this.” Alongside the development of its digital platform, AGL invests in innovative technology to maintain its fundamental supply chain operations.
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AT A GLANCE: CAREER HISTORY
“TAKING CRITICAL DECISIONS ON THE ELEMENTS OF THE LOGISTICS INFRASTRUCTURE MIX TO LEVERAGE AND EXTEND OUR FOOTPRINT ACROSS THE LOGISTIC VALUE CHAIN”
SEUN ONI After close to eight years with PwC, I joined the Coca-Cola Company in Nigeria, and over the next 14 years I held varied finance related roles both with country and regional focus. I took on an international assignment based out of the UK covering Africa in a Financial Planning role. I equally had the opportunity, as part of my leadership development to take a strategic oversight role as the Executive Assistant to a Regional President and this role in particular, started my very early steps out of my “comfort zone” of finance. After Coca-Cola Nigeria, I transitioned into bottling operations, and joined CocaCola Hellenic Bottling Company (CCHBC), a strategic bottling partner of the Coca-Cola Company. I took on the role as the Country CFO for Nigeria Bottling Company (the Nigerian subsidiary of CCHBC). This role, looking back was one of the pivotal bold moves, as it pitched me right into core operations and the crazy but
A prime example of this is the company’s ERP systems and internal procurement processes. These keep the company’s stock inventory fully updated and allow for the ready availability of spare parts, enabling them to be supplied to a multitude of customers quickly.
THE YEARS AHEAD 2020 was a critical year for AGL. The firm set a clear goal to double its
exhilarating dynamics of business operations and driving and influencing that, from a CFO lens. Taking on these leadership roles in organisations like the Coca-Cola Company, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling, and Reckitt Benckiser, prior to moving into an executive leadership role, exposed me to the best of both real-life executions, and high-level thought leadership and principles around supply chain and logistics. It has given me direct insights into the demand side of the industry and executing now from the supply side of providing these services, I pull from the vantage point of these varied experiences.
business with a significant portion of growth fuelled by its logistics business. The external challenges had some impact on this, however, AGL ended the year proud of its trajectory, and able to reset some of the fundamental elements of operation in readiness for 2021 - looking ahead to this year and into the future, AGL’s plans are hinged on expansion. “Our focus in 2021 is still fully in line with our transformation road map,
and it is all about growth, growth and growth!” Oni tells us. “We know that the macro-economic challenges are still prevalent, but we see some key growth levers and our priorities will focus on translating those to value. “For example, technology will continue to be a strong play for us as we step change our current platform especially at the front end. Taking critical decisions on the elements of the logistics infrastructure mix to leverage and extend our footprint across the logistic value chain.” The new norm of continual digitalisation is expected to accelerate e-commerce across all industries, and the backbone of e-commerce is the logistics sector – from providing effective specialised warehouses, to fulfilment centres, and last-mile delivery services. As a company with a foothold in such a key area of growing business, A.G. Leventis is certainly granted with exciting opportunities to come, and very much worth keeping an eye on.
A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA Tel: +234 01 4408134 Tel: +234 8000055555 www. agleventis.com
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A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA 2 Wharf Road, Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria Tel: +234 01 4408134 | +234 8000055555 www. agleventis.com PRODUCED BY AFRICA OUTLOOK MAGAZINE