Indigenous energy conglomerate, Shoreline Natural Resources, founded by Kola Karim, has formed a joint venture (JV) with Mota-Engil, a Portuguese contractor with a strong presence in southern Africa.
The new joint venture will be called Mota-Engil Nigeria and will leverage on Shoreline’s clout in Nigerian business and political circles to access target large-ticket infrastructure construction projects in Nigeria.
Under the new venture, Mota-Engil will hold 51% of Mota-Engil Nigeria, while Shoreline will own the remaining 49%.
Speaking to Bloomberg on the sidelines of the EurAfrican forum near Lisbon last week, chief executive officer of Mota-Engil’s Africa unit, Manuel António Mota, said his company was looking at a wide range of projects.
“The projects in Nigeria that are currently on the table vary between €20m to €1.5bn. This could make a big difference to our order book,” he said.
He added that the time was “just right” to enter Nigeria, owing to the recent rise in oil prices, which ought to increase the government’s spending power.
Kola Karim, 49, is one of Nigeria’s most successful businessmen.
Shoreline Group, the conglomerate he founded and controls, has tentacles in oil exploration and production, power generation, construction, commodities trading and telecommunications.
His principal asset, Shoreline Natural Resources, is the third largest indigenous oil producer in Nigeria behind listed Seplat Petroleum and Aiteo E & P Ltd., Nigeria’s largest independent, which is owned by tycoon Benedict Peters.
Shoreline Natural Resources pumps 55,000 barrels of oil per day, and holds an estimated 1 billion barrels in crude reserves.
In 2012, Shoreline Energy partnered with U.K-based Heritage Oil in acquiring a stake in OML 30, an oilfield asset in Nigeria for a reported $850 million.
Karim is also the current chairman of Costain (West Africa) Plc, Nigerian Ropes plc, and serves as director in seven other companies including Ecobank Nigeria Plc, Schlumberger Testing & Production Services Nigeria Ltd, Trans Amadi Facilities Ltd, Grange Education Ltd and African Eagles plc.
An avid polo player and lover of fast cars, the Ibadan indigene was named Young Global Leader class of 2008 by the World Economic Forum.
