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Thomas Svanikier

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Thomas Svanikier (born January 1960[1]) is a leading Ghanaian entrepreneur, industrialist, and philanthropist. He is the founder and executive chairman of Svani Group, an automotive conglomerate, as well as a founder and Chairman of the Advisory Board of Fidelity Bank, a growing international financial institution.

Svanikier has been at the forefront of Ghana’s economic modernization over the past 25 years, most notably in the automobile and financial sectors.

Business story

Thomas Svanikier’s first venture was an automotive import business. Svani Limited, established in 1990, supplied Russian-made Lada cars to Ghanaian industry, NGOs and government agencies, and consumers throughout West Africa. In response to the notable absence of North American automobiles, Svani Limited reintroduced Ford and Lincoln Mercury cars to the Ghanaian market in 1994.

Svanikier quickly expanded his company and renamed it Svani Group. The company imports vehicles, leases, rents and sells cars, and is a distributor of generators and other heavy-duty equipment throughout West Africa.[2] Svani has sold armored vehicles to the Office of the President of Ghana, the U.S. Secret Service in Nigeria, the Governor of Lagos State, and the governments of Liberia and Togo. The group also provides automotive maintenance and specialized equipment to the U.S. Department of State in Ghana.[3]

Svani currently controls about 20% of the global vehicles market in Ghana and has service centers in Accra, Takoradi, Koforidua and Kumasi. Svani is also the sole importer and distributor of Mahindra vehicles, as well as the largest distributor of Toyota Land Cruisers and Ford vehicles in Ghana. In partnership with Svanikier’s company, Mahindra built a motorcycle and pickup truck assembly plant in Accra, Ghana.[4] The two companies are currently working on the development of a 9.6 acre car assembly and servicing center along the Accra-Tema motorway.[5]

A number of Svani-distributed vehicles have received nominations in Ghana’s Auto Awards.[6]

Svanikier ventured into private equity with the creation of Africa Capital LLC, which invests in transportation, energy, finance, and real estate projects. As a result, Svanikier is well known in Ghana as a job creator and investor responsible for a significant portion of the economic expansion and modernization between the 1980s and late 2000s.[7]

In 2010, Africa Capital’s energy subsidiary, Atholl Energy, was lauded by then President John Evans Atta Mills for its joint project with the Siemens group to construct a 180-megawatt power generation plant that greatly augmented Ghana’s power supply.[8]

Africa Capital is the largest shareholder of Fidelity Bank in both Ghana and Malaysia. Fidelity is currently the fourth largest bank in Ghana, and is growing rapidly. Fidelity Bank has 98 branches in Ghana and plans to increase that number significantly in the coming years.[9] In December 2014, the bank’s total assets also stood at GHC 3.135 billion.

In July 2015, Svanikier and his wife were invited to be part of U.S. President Barack Obama’s delegation during his official visit to Kenya. Svanikier was also asked to take part in the Global Entrepreneurship Summit organized in Nairobi, Kenya by the U.S. Department of Commerce, at which the president met with leading figures in African business circles.

As of 2015, Svanikier serves as the senior adviser for Africa for the Transnational Strategy Group,[10] a Washington, D.C.-based[11] company that provides consultancy services for governments and companies on economic and political issues.[12]

Portfolio

Svanikier is the co-founder and chairman of several companies:[10]

  • Africa Capital Ltd., a financial firm
  • DreamOval Ltd., an internet security technology start-up specializing in data science, enterprise software and cloud services[13]
  • Atholl Energy Ltd., an energy company
  • Global Strategic Ventures Ltd., an armored vehicle and security company (Svanikier is also a director of the company[14])

Svanikier is Chairman of the Board of Fidelity Bank in both Ghana and Malaysia. Fidelity is one of the fastest growing banks in Ghana – over the past eight years it has created 95 branches throughout the country.[15] Fidelity Bank has 51 branches in Ghana and plans to increase that number to 100 by the year 2017.[16] Fidelity also provides the financing for Ghanaian customers to purchase or lease Mahindra vehicles produced in Svanikier's Accra plant.[17]

Additionally, he is a founding member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ghana.[10]

Philanthropy

It is really gratifying to see organizations like Svani step up and join the fight against Ebola.The response needs equipment, logistical support, technology and innovation and this partnership is going to boost the UN’s efforts to end this horrible disease.

— Dominic Sam
UNDP Country Director in Accra[18]

Svanikier is a well-known philanthropist in Ghana.

He serves as a leader for the Opportunities Industrialisation Centre (also known as OIC International).[10] OIC is a non-profit group in Pennsylvania that gives technical and vocational skills training to underprivileged adults and teenagers.[19]

He is also a leader of the Africa Poverty Eradication Commission located in Accra.[10]

Svanikier is known as a generous supporter of education and youth development programs, and has donated a 35-seat bus worth $64,000 to Ghana’s renowned Winneba Youth Choir.[20]

He is also an ongoing benefactor of the Presbyterian Schools in the Accra neighborhood of Osu. He funded the installation of its clean water and sanitation systems, as well as the construction of its Primary School for girls and a modern library with a computer laboratory. The Girls’ School facilities are dedicated to the memory of his late mother, Agnes Federica Svanikier.

In December, 2014, in the midst of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Svani Group partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the fight against the Ebola epidemic. Svani Group donated eight heavy-duty vehicles as well as several power generators to the United Nation’s Ebola Emergency Response.[21]

In 2015, Svanikier and his wife founded the Svanikier Public Policy Leadership Initiative, which donated $100,000 to the University of Oxford’s School of Government.[22] The funds went towards sponsorship for six Ghanaian public officials to attend courses at the University focused on Governance and Natural Resource management.

Personal

Svanikier is a descendant of a Danish family that settled in Christiansburg, Osu, in Accra.[23]

Svanikier is married and has a son and two daughters. His wife, Johanna Odonkor Svanikier, was a Fulbright Scholar who studied at Oxford and Harvard Universities. Johanna Odonkor-Svanikier was Ghana’s Ambassador to France, Portugal and UNESCO.[24]

References

  1. ^ "Mr Thomas Svanikier Director Profile - Endole". www.endole.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
  2. ^ "About Svani Limited". Svani Limited. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  3. ^ "Svani Ltd. in Accra - Contracting Profile". InsideGov.com. Graphiq, Inc. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  4. ^ "Mahindra to open auto assembly plant in Ghana". Artis.com. Artis Management Consultants Private Limited. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  5. ^ Obour, Samuel K. (8 August 2013). "Svani Motors to establish vehicle assembly plant". Graphic Online. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  6. ^ "Nominees". Ghana Auto Awards. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  7. ^ Falola, Toyin (2002). Key events in African history : a reference guide. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. p. 321. ISBN 9780313361227.
  8. ^ "President lauds Siemens, Atholl power project". Mingle's base. 13 December 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  9. ^ Dzawu, Moses (2 September 2014). "Rothschild-Backed Fidelity of Ghana to Double Branches". BloombergBusiness. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  10. ^ a b c d e "The Transnational Strategy Group Team". Transnational Strategy Group. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  11. ^ "Contact - Transnational Strategy Group". Transnational Strategy Group. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  12. ^ "Transnational Strategy Group - Home". Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  13. ^ "About Us - DreamOval". DreamOval. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  14. ^ "Mr Thomas Svanikier, Director Profile at Svani Limited". DueDil. DueDil Ltd. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  15. ^ "Energy, Oil & Gas Services" (PDF). Fidelity Bank. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  16. ^ Dzawu, Moses (2 September 2014). "Rothschild-Backed Fidelity of Ghana to Double Branches". BloombergBusiness. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  17. ^ "Mahindra and Svani Motors build assembly plant in Ghana". Automotive Supply Chain. London: Three 6 Zero Limited. 13 August 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  18. ^ "Svani Group joins private sector effort to combat Ebola". United Nations Development Programme. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  19. ^ "About Us | OIC International". www.oici.org. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
  20. ^ "Svani Group Donates Bus To Winneba Youth Choir". Mingle's base. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  21. ^ Owusu, Bossman (18 December 2014). "Svani Group joins private sector effort to combat Ebola". ReliefWeb. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  22. ^ "Fidelity Bank | Board of Directors". Fidelity Bank. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  23. ^ "Goodman AMC: THOMAS SVANIKIER". Retrieved 2015-08-20.
  24. ^ "Home - Ghana Embassy, Paris". paris.embassy.gov.gh. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
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