AITEO founder, Peters, wins FIN African Icon award

Business leader and founder of Aiteo Group, Benedict Peters has won the African Icon of the Year award of the Foreign Investment Network (FIN).

The award was bestowed on Peters at the just-concluded Nigeria International Petroleum Summit in Abuja.

The award is an acknowledgement of Peters’ significant contribution to oil and gas development in Africa, his visionary leadership, distinguished service and transformational disruption of a sector dominated by International Oil Companies.

The Aiteo Group’s 20 year evolution through Africa’s Oil and Gas sector has been exemplary as well as revolutionary – going from a downstream start-up to becoming a leading integrated energy conglomerate with strategic investments in hydrocarbon (or commodities) exploration and production.

Speaking at the award ceremony, Michael Dragoyevich, Chief Executive Officer of Foreign Investment Network, said: “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, Peters 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.”

Peters ventured into the oil and gas sector as an entrepreneur in 1999, and initially traded mainly in the downstream sector. In 2015, his company, Aiteo won the bid for the largest onshore oil block in sub-Saharan Africa.

Beyond oil, Aiteo group has investments in mining, agriculture, infrastructure development, electricity generation and distribution, with a fast-developing retail distribution network.

It is focused on serving the needs of communities across the continent, by leveraging a unique combination of a strategic asset base, technology, innovation, and some of the best technical and business minds across the industries it serves. The group has been expanding rapidly, extending its transformational operations to different countries across Africa and Europe.

Peters has also assisted thousands of internally displaced persons in northern Nigeria while also supporting clean water sanitation initiatives in Africa in partnership with Face Africa, improving the lives of over 25,000 people in rural Liberia and more.

He equally has a keen interest in social and environmental issues in the agricultural sector. He chairs the Joseph Agro Foundation, which seeks to tackle high levels of unemployment and water shortage by creating job opportunities for farmers in Africa.

For over 20 years, 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. FIN is a consultant in Oil and gas, Agriculture, Telecommunication, Metallurgical & Engineering Industries, Infrastructure and Maritime for financing, project assessment and risk analysis.