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Vivo Energy; distributors and marketers of Shell-branded fuels and lubricants across Africa, has acquired a majority shareholding in Shell Ghana Limited.
The deal was concluded on August 1, said Mr Christian Chammas, Chief Executive Officer of Vivo Energy, at a press conference organized in Accra.
He said with the addition of Ghana to their portfolio, Vivo Energy now operates in 16 countries.
The company, established in 2011 by Vitol, Helios Investment Partners and Shell to distribute and market Shell- branded fuels and lubricants across Africa, is operating in Ghana, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’ lvoire, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, Tunisia and Uganda.
Mr Chammas said: “Africa is a fast growing continent and our shareholders will invest 250 million dollars over the next three years to take advantage of this growth.”
According to him, Ghana is an important market and a growing economy which is set to benefit from significant developments in the energy sector.
“We are acquiring a business with great potential; a long history in Ghana, a high caliber workforce, quality assets and a large and diversified customer base” and pledged their commitment to ensure that the business realizes its full potential.
Mr Chammas revealed that the intention of the company is to grow the market and retain their position in the year to come saying this would take time but “we will get there”.
He stated that the company has planned to open 50 new station sites per year within the three-year period in the 16 countries they operated in adding that the three main focal priorities- education, road safety and environment, are their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) focus for the continent.
He said all CSR projects would be around the three priority areas to enable them have a unified approach.
The Managing Director of Vivo Energy Ghana, Fred Osoro on his part said their commitment to the Shell brand would not change adding that “for our retail customers, our service stations will continue to be Shell branded and provide high quality products and the highest level of service. For our commercial customers, only the company name has changed”.
He pointed out that the company in Ghana would continue to meet customers’ business needs by ensuring the supply of quality products and by building and maintaining an unrivalled reputation for safety, service excellence and technological leadership.
Shell brand has been in Ghana for 85 years and has been the leading marketer of fuels and lubricants.
Source: Citionline
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