In Nigeria’s booming oil and gas industry, the ARCO Group is atypical in its family-ownership and operation. The ARCO Group has carved out a singular space for itself in Nigeria’s competitive oil and gas sector focusing on marine logistics, maintenance, testing and drone technology. ARCO’s incredible story is proof of the crucial role family firms play in today’s increasingly globalised marketplace.
In 1980, recent graduate Alfred Okoigun noticed that Nigerian oil refineries were still importing essential spare parts from abroad – a lengthy and inefficient process. He saw an unmissable business opportunity. With only $680 at his disposal, he quit his job, started his own company and became one of the first agents in the country to represent some of the major oil and gas maintenance firms in the world.
Today, 38 years after its humble beginnings, ARCO Group is a leading oil and gas servicing firm that aims to be a billion-dollar company by 2025. Alfred Okoigun, now the Group Managing Director of the company, has strong faith in Nigeria’s undeniable potential and has not forgotten the hardships of his start-up journey.
ARCO supports young entrepreneurs by sponsoring seminars and scholarships for young engineering students, and Alfred Okoigun has received many awards for his contributions to the national oil and gas sector.
