INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES TOLD US THERE WAS NO OIL AND OUR EFFORTS MIGHT BE FUTILE BUT WE WERE PRAYERFUL, CONFIDENT AND WE DID THE WORK
- Kevin Okyere, C.E.O of Springfield Group, a Multi-Billion Dollar Oil Conglomerate
As the Chief Executive Officer of one of West Africa’s most successful energy conglomerates, his look may be modest; his ambitions are not. In just 12 years, Kevin Okyere, only 41, built his company, Springfield Group, into over a $1 billion (annual revenue) multi- faceted Ghanaian colossus. Springfield Group is involved in trading and transporting hydrocarbons, terminalling and storage, gas stations and recently, oil exploration. The Company employs hundreds of people in Ghana and Nigeria.
Kevin believes that with the combination of prayer and persistence, anyone can achieve anything. In an interview on Business Focus, he gave an in-depth narration of the impact of Faith in his life and business, “when we set out to drill, there were a few international oil companies that told us that there was no oil, they said what was underneath the soil was water or something else. But we believed. And you know we pray a lot as well, we believe in prayers. Once you do your humanly-possible best, you leave the rest to the Lord. With our prayers and everything, we were very confident, there was nothing that anyone could tell us that was going to stop us.”
When asked about the opinion of his team on his belief in prayer, he talked on how the idea for corporate prayers came from his workers, “it was a corporate decision which actually came from the team members, so it didn’t originate from me. I am a very prayerful person, I pray, I fast, I do whatever I have to do. I have a very good relationship with God but the team members decided and brought up a plan whereby we pray weekly. We have morning devotions and the likes. Whether I’m in the office or not, prayer sessions are going on. That’s what we believe in, that’s our Faith.”
Although Kevin Okyere was born in 1980 to an affluent family in Ghana’s gold-rich Ashanti region, he displayed entrepreneurial promise at a very young age. By the time he was 11, he was already selling iced water to football supporters in the Kumasi Sports Stadium to make extra pocket money. During his family’s annual summer vacation trips to London, he would take on jobs with textile companies in the U.K.
“Our family house was not too far from the stadium. I would often put water in our chest freezers at home, and then sell the iced water to the supporters watching the games in the Stadium. Everyone used to call me ‘Eddie Murphy’ in reference to the movie, ‘Coming To America’. The movie was quite recent in Ghana at the time. They used to wonder why I was working when my father was wealthy,” he recalls.
In 2019, Springfield Group became the first indigenous, independent energy company in Africa’s history to drill in deep water, this achievement placed Springfield amongst known exploration companies, mostly foreign owned, who are currently either in production or exploration phase of operation in a Deepwater area. According to Kevin Okyere, the 41-year-old Ghanaian founder of Springfield Group, the project marks a significant breakthrough for the Country’s nascent energy industry.
With a heart to touch the lives of people (Christians and non-Christians), Kevin donated 10,000 Dollars to World Vision to help some villages in Africa gain access to clean water. He runs a scholarship program to keep African children in school. In 2019, he also donated shoes to 10,000 kids. He also invests heavily in healthcare and has sponsored hundreds of surgeries for people with hole in the heart. According to him, his Company has a system in place that notifies them when someone who is less fortunate needs medical attention. The Company ensures it takes care of the entire medical bill.
SOURCES:
Business Focus
Forbes Magazine
Steve Harvey Show
#WinningWednesday
#KevinOkyere
#ChurchGist
