The Aswanis – Inside the Investment Portfolios of Top10 Int’l Family Investors in Nigeria

Mr. Haresh G. Aswani, managing director of Tolaram Group, has been with the company since 1984. Tolaram Group is one of the largest business concerns transforming Nigeria’s economy.  Over the years, he has successfully established and run trading, industrial and manufacturing operations in Nigeria. These include key joint ventures with Asian companies. The group has been in business for more than 60 years and operates in a number of countries around the world.

Aswani has been recognized for his deep involvement in Nigeria’s development effort. He was conferred with a national honour of MFR (Member of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria) in 2006. He has also been honoured with a chieftaincy title in recognition of his contributions in the development of the community.

Tolaram Group focuses on consumer goods, digital services, energy, and infrastructure. Over the years, it has evolved from trading to manufacturing, establishing leadership in several industries across countries. In Nigeria, the company has invested heavily in some critical sectors of the economy.

Dufil Prima Foods is the group’s subsidiary in the foods sector – which is a joint venture with Salim Group. It manufactures and markets instant noodle brands, pasta, vegetable oil and snacks with plants located in Ota, Kaduna and Port Harcourt. The company also manufactures flour, food seasoning and packaging materials. Its flagship brands are indomie instant noodles, power pasta, power oil and minimie snacks.

BHN is a member of the group, which provides haulage services to many blue-chip companies in Nigeria with a fleet of about 700 trucks. Another subsidiary company, First Choice Retailing Limited is a large chain of retail stores, providing convenient shopping for various consumer goods. Its Best Choice brand in Lagos presently has about 250 outlets and plans to extend to other cities.

Tolaram group promoted Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise for the development of Lekki Deep Sea Port. The $1.5 billion project will be the first privately built sea port in Nigeria and is expected to become the largest port in the country at completion.

Lucky Fibres Plc, another member of Tolaran Group, manufactures printed, woven and tufted carpets and rugs. It products are marketed under the brand Nobel Carpets.

MBH Power Limited, a subsidiary of the group is an energy solutions company operating in the power sector. It focuses on power transmission and distribution, turnkey solutions in captive power generation, solar power generation, metering and energy audit The company has commenced development of a 300 mw independent power project in Nigeria.

Multi Pro Enterprises Limited, a major consumer goods distribution company in West Africa, is also part of the conglomerate. Its reach is counted at about half a million points-of-sales.

VConnect also belongs to Tolaram Group, an e-commerce company that provides search engine services. It provides extensive information about products, services and companies in Nigeria with more than one million businesses in its list.