Powering Progress: Heirs Energies CEO Osa Igiehon Charts a Bold Path for Africa's Energy Future

In this exclusive conversation with Offshore Africa Magazine, Osa Igiehon, CEO of Heirs Energies, shares how the company is redefining Africa's energy landscape through disciplined execution, strategic gas investments, and a deep commitment to local value creation. From turning around OML 17 to scaling gas production, Igiehon discusses how Heirs Energies is building a resilient, globally competitive business while ensuring Africa's energy future is driven by Africans.

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Heirs Energies has rapidly emerged as a leading African independent. What would you say are the core principles driving your strategy and operations?

Our strategy is straightforward: we focus on delivering reliable, affordable energy to meet Africa's growing needs while building a resilient, globally competitive business.

From the onset, HeirsHoldings' quest to enter the energy industry was underpinned by our Africapitalism philosophy. We clearly recognized the role that energy plays - the current insufficiency and the aspired future of sufficiency - in shaping Africa's development. With our proven track record of successful turnarounds in other sectors, we were firmly convinced that we could enter and succeed in the energy sector in a way that would be impactful for Nigeria and Africa, aligning with the HeirsHoldings mantra of "improving lives and transforming Africa."

With OML 17, we saw opportunity where others saw decline and challenge. The asset was underperforming, but we knew it had potential. By innovatively addressing longstanding business environment constraints, tackling infrastructure challenges, working closely with our host communities, and maintaining operational and financial discipline, we were able to stabilise and double production within months.

Through our novel Brownfield Excellence technical approach and a can-do culture, enabled by our core values of excellence, enterprise, and execution, as well as our winning behaviours, we have built a company that has consistently, compliantly, responsibly and resiliently unlocked the potential of OML 17 in all aspects.