Latest media criticisms questioning the breadth of expertise and enterprise acumen of Mr. Massad Boulos, the incoming Senior Adviser on Arab and Center East Affairs to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, will not be solely misguided but in addition dismissive of the outstanding observe document of each the person and the businesses he has been instrumental in nurturing.
For example, SCOA Nigeria PLC, the place Mr. Boulos serves as Managing Director/CEO, is way from being simply one other firm. It’s a formidable drive in Nigeria’s industrial and financial panorama. With roots spanning over 4 many years, it holds the excellence of being the primary European automotive meeting plant in Nigeria.
Within the 1970’s, SCOA Nigeria PLC made a reputation for itself by assembling Peugeot 404 after which 504 pickup vehicles at its meeting plant at Apapa, Lagos and repair heart at its Lapal Home facility on Lagos Island. Immediately, the corporate continues this proud legacy, assembling, distributing, and advertising M.A.N vehicles and buses, energy turbines, tractors, agricultural tools, industrial tools and different heavy-duty building and mining equipment vital to Nigeria’s key sectors.
SCOA Nigeria PLC’s shoppers embrace a few of the most outstanding and revered names in Nigeria’s building business, similar to Julius Berger—extensively considered the nation’s main building agency—Lafarge Africa PLC, a significant cement producer, the Chagoury Group, famend for creating the distinguished Banana Island, a premier residential enclave in Lagos, the DANGOTE Group, and plenty of others.
Past vehicles, SCOA Nigeria PLC is a trusted provider of concrete, highway building and mining tools, partnering with main infrastructure corporations to drive Nigeria’s growth. For instance, Julius Berger depends closely on SCOA’s tools for large-scale tasks, together with the 376km Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano freeway and the 43.6km Lagos-Shagamu stretch of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the Abuja-Kano Freeway.
Equally, Hello-Tech Development, presently engaged on the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Freeway and the Lagos-Badagry-Sokoto highway community, relies upon considerably on SCOA PLC for the equipment and know-how required to execute these bold tasks, aimed toward enhancing connectivity and commerce throughout Nigeria’s southern, central, and northern areas.
Equally,SCOA PLC has additionally been instrumental within the growth of Eko Atlantic Metropolis, a groundbreaking city venture constructed on reclaimed land from the Atlantic Ocean. This visionary initiative, designed to deal with Lagos’s urbanization challenges and promote sustainable growth, has been made attainable partly by state-of-the-art equipment provided by SCOA. Notably, Eko Atlantic Metropolis is about to host the US Embassy, projected to be the most important of its form globally upon completion, additional underscoring the strategic significance of this landmark venture.
In truth,SCOA Nigeria PLC’s impression extends past Nigeria’s shores. As a member of the FADOUL Group – one of many largest and most profitable family-owned companies in Africa – its affect spans throughout West and Central Africa. The FADOUL Group, established in 1966, operates quite a few profitable enterprises, employs over 20,000 folks, and is valued at over $1 billion, with lots of of thousands and thousands of USD in property. This legacy highlights the size and scope of the operations beneath Mr. Boulos’s management.
Opposite to unfounded claims in sure media shops, the suggestion that Mr. Boulos just isn’t a billionaire is each baseless and deceptive. As President-elect Donald Trump rightly described, Mr. Massad Boulos is a “deal-maker,” a characterization grounded in truth. His confirmed means to barter and execute advanced worldwide transactions has facilitated vital partnerships between Nigerian, German, and French companies, delivering substantial worth and mutual profit.
As a Non-Government Impartial Director of SCOA Nigeria PLC since 2012, I’ve witnessed firsthand Mr. Boulos’s instrumental position in driving the corporate’s success. His means to navigate the complexities of worldwide commerce, exemplified by the availability of a big fleet of vehicles to Lafarge Africa by a tripartite association between a logistics agency, GPC and Union financial institution plc , has earned him widespread recognition and respect.
Mr. Boulos’s management has not solely been very important to SCOA PLC’s achievements but in addition to the broader worldwide enterprise successes of the FADOUL Group. That is exactly the type of expertise and strategic imaginative and prescient he brings to his new position as Senior Adviser on Arab and Center East Affairs to President-elect Trump.
As famous in a press launch by Karoline Leavitt, Trump-Vance Transition Spokeswoman, makes an attempt to smear Mr. Boulos’s popularity are a part of a broader effort by opposition parts to undermine President-elect Trump’s nominees. The reality stays that Mr. Boulos performed a pivotal position in mobilizing the Arab-American and Center Japanese-American vote, contributing considerably to the Trump-Vance victory—an achievement that underscores his political and organizational acumen.
Efforts to denigrate Mr. Boulos’s {qualifications} and achievements will not be solely futile but in addition a disservice to the details. Mr. Boulos’s experience and accomplishments are well-suited for his new position, the place he’ll undoubtedly ship impactful outcomes on behalf of President-elect Trump and the US.
– Onyibe, non-executive impartial director and chairman of Audit Committee, SCOA Nigeria PLC,writes from Lagos
