Emeka Offor is the Executive Vice Chairman of the Chrome Group. As a dynamic and articulate entrepreneur with nearly three decades of business experience, he has built a vast business empire with interests in Oil and Gas, Insurance, the Power Sector, Telecommunications, and Logistics, both in Nigeria and overseas.
Born in Kafanchan Kaduna State of Nigeria to a policeman, he is the first of ten children. He is a native of Oraifite in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State. He began his business career as an apprentice to his uncle and proved to be a quick study. In 1994, Sir Dr. Emeka Offor formed the Chrome Group, entering into Nigeria’s rough-and-tumble oil and gas industry. Guided by a relentless work ethic and a keen nose for a good deal, he waded through the minefields inherent in the Oil and Gas sector.
Emeka Offor Education and Early Life
Emeka Offor did not have a smooth or easy education. He started his primary education in Aba and Enugu, but he had to move to Anambra State with his family because of the Nigerian Civil War. He attended Abbot Boys’ Secondary School in Oraifite, but he was expelled for fighting with a teacher. He then enrolled in another secondary school in Ihiala, but he did not finish his studies.
Emeka Offor decided to leave his hometown and look for a better life. He followed his father’s colleague, Pa Geoffrey Abadi, who was like a father figure to him, to Warri, Delta State. There, Emeka Offor got a job as a transport clerk with Rivways Lines Nigeria Ltd, a company that imports bitumen products. Bitumen is a black sticky substance that is used for making roads and roofs. Offor learned the basics of the business from Pa Abadi, who taught him how to deal with customers and suppliers. He also learned how to read and write contracts and invoices.
Emeka Offor soon realized that there was a lot of demand for bitumen in Nigeria, especially from big construction companies. He decided to start his own business of supplying bitumen to these companies. He used his savings and borrowed money from his friends and relatives to buy a truck and some drums of bitumen. Emeka Offor then approached some of the big companies, such as Julius Berger, Guffanti, Fougerolle, etc, and offered them his services. He was able to convince them with his honesty, hard work, and quality products. He gradually built a reputation and a network of clients and suppliers in the bitumen industry.
Emeka Offor’s business grew rapidly, and he expanded his operations to other parts of Nigeria and Africa. He also diversified his interests to other sectors, such as oil and gas, power, logistics, insurance, broadcasting, and telecommunications. In 1985, he established Chrome Oil Services Limited, which later became The Chrome Group in 1994. The Chrome Group is now one of the leading conglomerates in Nigeria and Africa, with international and local partners, such as China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, Cameron, Huawei International, Dextron Group, etc.
The Chrome Group.
The Chrome Group was incorporated in 1994 and is a major player in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa. Based in Abuja, the Federal Capital of Nigeria, it is a leading conglomerate offering vast experience in oil and gas services, power, logistics, and telecommunications.
The subsidiaries of the Chrome Group include Kaztec Engineering Limited, Nimek Investments Limited, Global Scansystems Nigeria Limited, Chrome Insurance Brokers Limited, and Inland Containers Nigeria Limited. There are about 20 active companies in the Group. Until recently Sir Dr. Emeka Offor was the Chairman of the board of EHRC Energy Inc., a USA-based independent Oil and Gas Company focused on exploration and production in the Gulf of Guinea.
The Chrome Group from its origins as an engineering outfit handling projects such as refinery maintenance, has today become by the grace of God, a conglomerate with diverse interests in Oil and Gas, Finance/Investments, Telecommunications, Insurance, Maritime, Destination Inspection, Real Estate and the Power Sector.
In the early 1990s, this benevolent and amiable billionaire businessman established the Sir Dr. Emeka Offor Foundation (SEOF), a non-profit, charitable organization, with a vision to reduce poverty and create life-improving economic opportunities for those residing in Nigeria’s most marginalized communities through Education, Health care services and Empowerment. He has received numerous honors from many corporate bodies, non-governmental organizations, governments, and countries for his philanthropic endeavors and his passionate commitment to human capacity development. The Romanian Consulate in Nigeria recently honored Sir Dr. Emeka Offor for his invaluable contribution towards the development and enhancement of bilateral relations between Nigeria and Romania.
Sir Dr. Emeka Offor, through the SEOF, has embarked on several projects like giving scholarships to less privileged students both in secondary and tertiary institutions, and building and furnishing classroom blocks. In collaboration with Books For Africa (BFA), he has donated over 10 million USD worth of books, computers, and other educational materials to schools in Nigeria and about 19 other African countries. Sir Dr. Emeka Offor established health centers, providing free medical consultations, treatment, and drugs and established a €100,000 Glaucoma research grant at the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Mainz, Germany; he also established a Nigerian fellowship of Cataract Surgery and Glaucoma Management at the same university. Other notable achievements include the establishment widows’ cooperative to help widows become and remain independent, offering automatic employment in his company and a brand new car to graduates of tertiary institutions who make first-class honors, drilling boreholes that supply safe drinking water, provision and installation of transformers and road construction. Through his Foundation, Sir Dr. Emeka Offor partners with The Carter Center to wage war against River Blindness in seven states in Nigeria, especially in the southeast and south-south where the disease is prevalent.
Lending a hand to the poor and those in need in our society has been one of the pillar objectives of the Sir Dr. Emeka Offor Foundation. As a result, SEOF commits resources and time towards human capacity development, provision of access to skills acquisition, and transfer of knowledge to the grassroots. Such opportunities have enabled the establishment of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) and Cooperative Societies for the less privileged. These empowerment programs focus on youth, widows, and the differently-abled.
A member of Rotary International, Sir Dr. Emeka Offor was elevated to the status of the Foundation Circle of the Arch C. Klumph Society (AKS) of the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. This is a result of his singular donation of over $1 million to the Rotary Foundation spread across the four (4) cardinal an endeavor of Rotary, viz; Peace and Conflict Management, Maternal and Child Death, Basic Education and Literacy promotion, and Polio Eradication. He is currently the Rotary International Polio Ambassador to Nigeria, having given over USD 3.1 million towards the eradication of the Polio scourge. By the above donations, Sir Dr. Emeka Offor remains Rotary`s highest donor in the African continent.
Sir Dr. Emeka Offor is a Sports lover with a particular interest in Lawn Tennis. Sir Dr. Emeka Offor is the current Patron of the Nigerian-Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Commerce.
Sir Dr. Emeka Offor is the Chairman, Board of Directors, Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, EEDC.
Emeka Offor wife, Children, personal life
The 65-year-old Emeka Offor is married to Adaora Vivian Ufondu, who is the daughter of a prominent businessman named Chief Alex Ufondu. They got married in 2014, in a traditional ceremony in Oraifite, Anambra State. Emeka Offor has two other wives, Nkiru and Joy, whom he married in 1982 and 2002 respectively. He has several children, including Njideka, who wedded Ugo Udu in 2019, in a lavish ceremony in Lagos.
Emeka Offor Age
Emeka Offor is 65 years old as of 2024. Emeka Offor was born on February 10, 1959, in Kafachan, Kaduna State.
Emeka Offor net worth
Emeka Offor is one of the richest Igbo men in Nigeria. Emeka Offor's net worth was estimated to be sitting at $2.9 billion. Emeka Offor made his fortune from his business empire, The Chrome Group, which has interests in various sectors, such as oil and gas, power, logistics, insurance, broadcasting, and telecommunications. Emeka Offor is also the chairman of Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), which he acquired after the privatization of the power sector. He has international and local partners, such as China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, Cameron, Huawei International, Dextron Group, etc.
