AA RANO Nigeria Limited is an indigenous oil company founded by its Chairman, Alhaji Auwalu Abdullahi Rano with its base in Kano. At present, the downstream giant is one of the few operators in the industry that has survived despite challenges that confront the regulated sector.
The acronym AA RANO was carved from the chairman of the company who started with ice block and groundnut oil business including other local items. The business commenced in 1994 and became a limited company in 2001.
One indelible incidence in the history of the company is when it started business with only a single truck which was its only hope at the time but unfortunately, there was a fire incident that devasted it. Unrelenting by the sordid experience, the company continued in its business and after several years of turmoil it had three trucks which were used to deliver products, again, on their way to delivery, they had terrible accident and all the products were affected by that mishap.
Today, in spite the unfortunate incidents that befell the company, AA RANO is one of the biggest Nigeria’s oil trading companies in the downstream and contributing immensely in the sector. The company is involved in transportation with more than 600 fleets plying the Nigerian roads. As an oil marketer, the indigenous company started without a single outlet later it rose from a filling station to several outlets.
Despite the challenges of Nigeria’s regulated downstream, AA RANO has more than 120 filling stations across Nigeria. In June 2014, in satellite part of Lagos, it had 15 of more than 11 million litre storage tanks which is 11 million capacity each.
The company has several truck parks in Kano including a garage in Ogere as well as about 350 trucks capacity in Ore close to Lagos. AA RANO prides itself as one of the few companies that does crude oil lifting in Nigeria.
After several years of tireless efforts in the by-product business, AA RANO delved into Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in 2015 with outlets of LPG in Lagos and one of the biggest dealers of LPG for buyers and retailers, it will soon own a mega plant for LPG in Kano.
As a human capital development expert, AA RANO is the greatest contributor to the growth of human development project of the country. These human development agents have contributed to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria.
In terms of human capital index, the indigenous giant’s contribution cannot be over emphasized, with offices, depots, plants, outlets and other facilities, the company gives and has created not less than 3000 to 4000 employment to Nigerians. By providing employment, it contributes to the country’s GDP and human capital index growth.
The world has metamorphosed into technology which has transcended the entire globe, part of AA RANO digital plan includes building a modular refinery with LNG, lubricating oil among others.
While introducing AA RANO’s new logo at the 13th Oil Trading & Logistics Expo (OTL), Africa Downstream Week, 2019 in Lagos, the Chief Operating Officer of AA RANO, Abdulmumumi Dagazau, explained that the company makes constant changes and trend that follows the industry and has a five-year growth plan. “It is important for oil companies to take time to re-develop and re-access themselves over a few years and we have done that in the last one year.”
Dagazau thanked those who designed and contributed to the innovation of the company’s logo.
He extolled AA RANO’s impressive and aggressive young group of people who have committed themselves to developing the company to a 21st century one with innovative ideas.
According to Dagazau, “The importance of our logo and team work is handing over to the new generation of developers of business because tomorrow they are the captains of industry, what we are going to do inevitably is being the people who gave the support.”
The logo is part of digital transformation of Nigeria’s downstream and to reveal that the country has capacity to develop the sector so as to be competitive around the globe. Since the company is evolving, the new logo signifies its strength and sends message to all stakeholders and players that it has taken a new strategic dimension. The identity is to show that the company is consolidating in its portfolio in the value chain of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
Zainab, a female staff of AA RANO and part of the logo team, submitted that it signifies a new image to stakeholders that the company is ready to take the market strongly, confidently and to serve its customers better.
In his goodwill message, Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Rain Oil, Gabriel Ogbechei, congratulated Auwalu Abdullahi Rano, management and staff of AA RANO for the wonderful job they have done including the lofty height of the downstream giant.
The Rain Oil Chairman disclosed that he started his sojourn with the oil industry in Kano, the base of RANO in 1992. He knew Alhaji AA Rano as a young trader and both men were involved in the trade.
“We were very small and selling petroleum products in drums, kerosene, discharging products into drums and selling in our own little ways.” “All these years we have also seen the massive transformation that has taken place in the downstream sector starting from the majors as we knew them then to what we have today, Ogbechei enthused.”
He noted that an indigenous company like AA RANO has grown “bit by bit, step by step, to where it is today. What actually gives me joy is that when you look at AA RANO and they say they have 120 petrol stations and more than 600 trucks; it is not as if overnight they just got 20 stations, every single one them was built one after the other to what it is today.” He said he was very proud of the downstream giant. He encouraged the Nigerian companies to fully take over the space and it a pleasure that AA RANO is showing leadership in this direction.
Ogbechei revealed that the company’s plan to build a modular refinery including other facilities should be actualized.
Mark Rossel from Trafigura, an international company providing support for AA RANO, opined that the company’s development paves way for an enduring future and new business opportunities.
Indeed, AA RANO is one of the fastest growing companies in Nigeria and its unprecedented growth cannot be undermined. It is in the frontline of Nigeria downstream industry and gives hope that the sector will be taken over by the country’s indigenous oil companies.
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