Igho Sanomi is a Nigerian billionaire philanthropist and businessman who has interests in the oil industry as well as in the transportation of goods, the marine industry as well as in the aviation and real estate sectors.
With all the good things within the young billionaire’s reach, his private jet and exotic mansions were once seized by a creditor to settle millions of pounds his company owe the financial institution.
Who is Igho Sanomi?
- Full Name: Igho Charles Sanomi
- Date of birth: May 17, 1975
- Home town: Agbor
- State of origin: Delta, Nigeria
- Father: AIG Dickens Ogheneruemu Patrick Sanomi (rtd)
- Mother: Mabel Iyabo Sanomi
- Business interest: Oil and gas, telecommunication
In the late 1990s, Sanomi was at Cosmos Oil (an international oil-trading corporation with its primary commercial activity in Nigeria) to negotiate the export of fuel from the Port Harcourt refinery to the country’s operation line.
He furthered his career by creating a working relationship with an energy-trading corporation located in Zug, Switzerland, and this agreement lead to the exportation and importation of refined petroleum products worth billions of dollars.
His Companies:
In 2004, Sanomi formed Taleveras Group, a Nigerian energy trading corporation, in order to consolidate his economic interests.
For three offshore oil blocks off the coast of Ivory Coast, Taleveras purchased production sharing contracts (PSCs) in April 2012. One of Taleveras’ Ivorian offshore upstream projects was sold to Lukoil of Russia in June of 2013 for an undisclosed sum.
Purchase Afam Power from NNPC
Afam Power was bought by Taleveras Group on 30 July 2013. To promote local content and “downsize” contracts handed to multinational oil merchants, Nigeria’s government, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), sought to award roughly half of the 2012–2013 lifting contracts worth $60 billion to indigenous enterprises and fortunately, Sanomi group was one of the companies that keyed into this opportunity.
Expansion of Afam Power
It was in October of that year that Taleveras Group reached an agreement with Patrick Kron the chairman and chief executive (président-directeur général) of Alstom Group for the renovation and expansion of the Afam power plant in Rivers State. After meeting with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and other business executives, the company swung to action
Philanthropic activities
The Dickens Sanomi Foundation (DSF) was established in 2011 by Sanomi and his siblings in honour of their father, and he serves as its chairman. The Taleveras Group and the Midel Group have supported the DSF, which focuses its efforts on Nigeria. Contributions of the foundation:
Essay competition
A yearly essay tournament for Nigerian secondary school students has been sponsored by the Dickens Sanomi Foundation since 2014.
Flood aid
To help those affected by the October 2012 flooding, the foundation’s Project Rescue 10,000 Flood Victims.
He donated food and relief supplies worth millions of naira to communities in the Ughelli, Ewu, Arvwarhien and Orere communities, as well as Ughelli North and South local government areas of Delta state.
Non-governmental organisations
In addition to receiving the Martin Luther King Legacy Award for generosity, Dickens Sanomi has made a considerable gift to the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research in the United Kingdom “this is to assist fund essential prostate cancer research.” A portion of their donations was donated to Save the Children and Oxfam as well.
On the advisory board of the West Africa Book Development Fund He was appointed a literary agent.
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s International Salute Committee named him honorary chair after the demise of Ade Adefuye.
Dance Theatre of Harlem’s first Latin American tour was co-sponsored by Sanomi from 31 January to 6 February 2014 in Tegucigalpa. Press Statement from the U.S. Embassy states that “Igho Charles Sanomi II, Executive Director of Taleveras Group, also made DTH’s trip possible.”
GIPLC, a non-governmental organization dedicated to “promoting sustainable programs and activities that would assure a better life for the Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC),” has cooperated with Sanomi.
His Honours and Award
As of September 2014, the Institut Choiseul for International Politics and Geoeconomics ranked Sanomi number one in its first edition of the Choiseul 100 Africa, which recognizes “growing business leaders, successful entrepreneurs, investors, etc.” who “embrace the dynamism and renewal of a whole continent and carry the hopes of an entire generation.”
Young African leaders under the age of 40 have been identified and are ranked in order of potential importance to the future development of Africa. He was also the best in 2015 as well.
Nominations for a position on the Nigeria-South Africa Business Council came from Nigeria’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment in 2013. On February 28, 2014, in Abuja, he was presented with a Corporate/Friends of the Police Award.
He was among the “Ten Young African Millionaires To Watch in 2013” that was listed by Forbes.
Sanomi was also named one of the “Top 25 Oil and Gas Leaders in Africa” by African Leadership magazine in the same year.
he was honoured with the Humanitarian of the Year Award by Mode Men magazine in 2012. During the 2014 Africa Global Business Forum in Dubai, Sanomi delivered the keynote address and was expected to do it again the following year. As a result of his achievements, he has received the African Leadership Award.
Sanomi got the 2014 Africa’s Emerging Community Development Icon Award and was awarded honorary citizenship in the United States state of Georgia.
Fleet of Cars:
Igho Sanomi’s taste for exotic cars is unparalleled, some of them include:
Lexus LX 570
Toyota Prado
Net Worth
The net worth of the founder of Taleveras isn’t known, but there are speculations that the young Sanomi is worth above $1 billion.
Igho Private Jet
With a $3 million debt, Igbo Sanomi lost his private plane in 2019 and had to give it up to the Suisse Group AG because of debt by one of his companies in the UK.
It was in 2019 when Igbo Sanoni’s residences in Chelsea, west London, and Belgravia were frozen for creditors to recoup the loans obtained by his company amounting to $3 million loans from Suisse Group AG.
Conclusion
There is no gainsaying in the fact that Igho Sanomi is one of the billionaires in Nigeria who is living large. Though it’s alleged that he was one of the close allies of the former petroleum minister accused of mismanagement of funds.
References:
- SaharaReporters (April 16, 2019). “Nigerian Businessman Igho Sanomi Forfeits Private Jet, Three London Homes To Swiss Bank Over $3m Debt”. Saharareporters.com. Retrieved January 31, 2022
- Thisdaylive (August 8, 2021). “Igho Sanomi: Role Model Par Excellence”. thisdaylive.com. Retrieved February 1, 2022
