MAN Diesel & Turbo has opened a new sales office in Nigeria. The company’s new representation is located in the country’s main business location, Lagos. “We have been doing business in Nigeria for a long time. Now we are resident in one of Africa’s most economically powerful cities,” says Dr. Uwe Lauber, CEO of MAN Diesel & Turbo. “By deepening our local footprint we hope to further grow our business affiliations and strengthen our partnership with this country.”

New Managing Director for Nigeria is Adedayo Olowoniyi (35), who will be leading the Lagos office. Before taking on this new role, Olowoniyi was MAN’s Chief Financial Officer for the Sub-Saharan region.

“We see tremendous market potential in Nigeria,” says Olowoniyi. “The privatization of the local power market is driving investment and with only about 5.5 gigawatts installed today, there is a substantial need for additional decentralized generation capacity. The country’s overall economy is growing substantially and our products can help companies secure their energy supply without having to depend on the public grid.” With the new office, he considers MAN Diesel & Turbo to be well positioned for future endeavors in Nigeria and beyond. “Lagos is the country’s commercial capital, which is why we have chosen it as our first and main office.”

The German Consul General, Ingo Herbert, congratulated MAN Diesel & Turbo on the occasion of the foundation and opening of the company’s new Lagos subsidy: “Out of the approximately 50.000 German companies, that are active on a global level, only about 1.000 are present in Africa so far. MAN Diesel & Turbo is one of them. While MAN’s world famous trucks have been a familiar sight for many years, I am very pleased that people and companies in Nigeria now also have direct nationwide access to this company’s great high technology solutions in the field of energy generation. The Government and society of Nigeria are determined to tackle the current challenges in electricity supply and I am confident that MAN Nigeria Ltd. will make an important contribution here.”

MAN Diesel & Turbo is one of the world’s leading providers of large-bore diesel, gas and dual-fuel engines with a power output ranging from 450 kW to 87 MW. The company also designs and manufactures gas turbines, steam turbines and compressors and offers complete power plant solutions.

MAN Diesel & Turbo has been doing business in Africa for over fifty years. During that time, over 3.2 gigawatts of generation capacity have been installed in 37 African countries. “Our African history reaches back as far as 1951, when our first engines were installed in Mali and Senegal,” explains Uwe Lauber. “Today we operate from offices and service workshops in South-Africa, Senegal, Kenya, Angola and Namibia with a team of over 300 employees.”

“There are strong dynamics in many African markets,” says Martin Kalter, Senior Vice President at MAN Diesel & Turbo and Head of the company’s African power plants business. “We are currently building plants in Senegal, Niger and Burkina-Faso. In late 2013, we handed over the first gas-fired power plant that we ever built on the continent, in Gabon, to the client. 2014 saw another African premiere, when we commissioned an engine-combined cycle plant in Kenya,” explains Kalter. He also points out that the company’s African story is ongoing. “Like in the rest of the world, use of natural gas is increasing. Our gas engines, dual-fuel engines and gas turbines are an excellent fit for gas-rich regions, where distribution infrastructure is already in place or developing, such as in parts of Nigeria, for example. In more remote areas and for industrial and mining companies, our diesel engines are the right choice.”