AOG marks 25 years of evolution
04 February 2013
AOG has launched a repositioning to mark its 25th anniversary and the diversification of its investments since it was founded in 1987. From its original unique focus on energy, the privately-owned group has subsequently diversified into real estate and other capital investments. It is now called simply AOG, which leverages its Addax and Oryx heritage, while creating an identity that encompasses its current business areas.
“We are pursuing our long-standing commitment to respond to the energy needs of sub-Saharan Africa and marking, at the same time, our diversification into other areas of investment in recent years”, said AOG founder and Chairman, Jean Claude Gandur. “With a broader circle of partners and stakeholders, this called for a repositioning in order to better reflect the evolution of our business and better express the culture and values that are at the heart of our success”, he added.
AOG has earned a reputation as an entrepreneurial investor, with a talent for recognising and developing new opportunities, without compromising its principles of fairness and integrity. It built that reputation in Africa, where it started in oil trading in 1987, before quickly moving into downstream activities, as it recognised the importance of taking products to end users. AOG then entered the upstream (exploration and production) business and, more recently, launched a pioneering bioenergy and agriculture project in Sierra Leone.
AOG has also taken the opportunity of its 25th anniversary to merge its traditional trading and downstream businesses into a single platform, Oryx Energies. This concludes an integration strategy pursued since 2009, leveraging our experience and expertise as one of the sector’s longest-standing independent players in Africa. The move aims to develop one of the most reliable and extensive downstream platforms on the continent.
Since the sale of its first upstream business, Addax Petroleum, in 2009, AOG has diversified its investments. In 2010, it formed AOG Real Estate, which is investing in commercial real estate in large cities in Europe and North America. It has also initiated other capital investments related to Africa and/or energy, its traditional areas of expertise.
Today, AOG’s principal business areas are:
- AOG Energy (including Addax Bioenergy, Oryx Energies, Oryx Petroleum)
- AOG Real Estate
- AOG Capital Investment
