Odu'a Investment Company Limited Make Plans to List Subsidiary on NGX

Odu'a Investment Company Limited recently revealed its plans to list on the Nigerian Exchange. This was announced by Bimbo Ashiru, the firm's chairman, at the closing-gong ceremony on the exchange floor.

Ashiru stated that the group is looking at its subsidiaries as it is considering listing one of them on the Exchange.

Talking to stockbrokers, he said, 

• We have a new Holdco, which is why we are here. We believe that teeming investors will be willing to partner with us. We are eager to be part of you and be partners in progress.

• Any investor desires the security of their fund at any point in time, and one of the companies we believe can give them that security is Odu'a Investment. We are into real estate, energy, hospitality and real estate. We are into financial services. We are like a one-stop shop. We want to be a world-class conglomerate and to do that; you must bring everybody on board.

• He said that the conglomerate's goal is to focus on agriculture since it has a higher chance of creating more jobs for fellow Nigerians.

He added,

• Our focus too is agriculture, which will lead to industrialisation, and that is why we have SWACO, South West Agric Company. We have about 40,000 hectares of land on which we will do cassava, which we already do in Yewa. We are going to do cocoa.

• I always tell people that Nigeria has no business being an import-dependent economy. We should be an exporting country. If we are exporting and bringing in foreign Exchange, then the issue of demand and supply will be captured and reduced. It will create jobs for our teeming young ones.

He said that Nigeria needs to focus more on agriculture by building infrastructures that will boost productivity in the sector.

He continued,

• Our young ones will stop driving okada and reduce the number of people who 'japa'. That is what Odu'a wants to do.

• Remember that Southwest lent the federal government millions of pounds some years back. We want to bring back that glory. If Southwest states are the fourth-largest economy in Africa, then we can walk the talk.

Bimbo Ashiru, the current MD of Odua Investment Company Limited, said that he would soon be wrapping up his tenure as he ensured that the incoming MD would be encouraged to handle the listing. However, he did not give a timeframe for this.

He also said that his visit to the Exchange ensured that the firm that Odua Investment's house was in order and that the appropriate governance structure required for a listed company was put in place.

However, Odu'a Investment Company Limited announced that Yinusa will be the next Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, which will take place from June 1, 2024.

Odu'a Investment is owned by the governments of Southwest states, and was founded in 1976.