How Sahara Group registered with foreign identity to beat ‘colonial mentality’ — Tonye Cole
The co-founder of Sahara Group, Tonye Cole, has revealed how he and his partners created a foreign identity for their company in its early days to overcome what he described as the “colonial mentality” that made it difficult for young Nigerian entrepreneurs to gain recognition in the oil and gas industry.
The co-founder of Sahara Group, Tonye Cole, has revealed how he and his partners created a foreign identity for their company in its early days to overcome what he described as the “colonial mentality” that made it difficult for young Nigerian entrepreneurs to gain recognition in the oil and gas industry.
Cole disclosed that Sahara was registered abroad in the Isle of Man and presented as an expatriate company, with a fictitious British figure known as “Dr J” introduced as the face of the business, to gain access to opportunities that would have been difficult for a young Nigerian-owned firm.
The businessman, who spoke during an interview on the Afropolitan podcast published on Wednesday, said the strategy was born out of the reality that many industry players believed foreign companies were more capable than local businesses.
Cole said, “What I remember about back then was that there was what you would call the expatriate mentality, colonial mentality at the time.
“It just meant that if you were white in Nigeria, then you would basically get everything.”
He explained that he and his partners had to rethink their approach after observing that most successful players in the sector were foreign-owned firms.
“On the one hand, you had this colonial mentality, but at the same time you had a whole group of people who were tired of that and were looking for a way, and we found it as a very interesting niche,” he said.
According to Cole, the challenge was compounded by their age, as potential clients were reluctant to believe that people in their late 20s could own and operate a company in the sector.
“We would go into offices and realise that if we went in as young 27, 28-year-old people and said that we own the company and we set up the company, the people sitting there would be looking at you as if, ‘Who are you? You can’t do that.’
“So there was that ageism issue,” he said.
Cole said they discovered that companies making progress in the industry were either foreign entities or had foreign connections, prompting them to register Sahara abroad.
“Everybody who was in this business, the people who were actually succeeding in the business, had foreign companies or they were foreign companies.
“What we did was we set up, we registered the company abroad in the Isle of Man. So we had a UK entity,” he said.
He added that they worked with one of their former teachers to create the impression that they were working for an experienced foreign businessman.
“We discussed with one of my partners’ teachers at the time and said, ‘You know what, this is who we are. You have taught us well. We’re going to say that we work for you.’
“You had a lovely name, Dr J, which was not a Nigerian name,” Cole said.
Explaining how the arrangement worked, he said, “We set up this company where we were representatives to ourselves, but we would just go there and say, ‘Look, we are staff.’
“We can cry, you know, staff. They fire me, beg and beg and cry, because they felt they were helping young Nigerians who were working for this expatriate company.”
Cole said the move helped the company gain acceptance from clients who may not have been willing to engage with a young Nigerian-owned business.
“Because they felt that they were helping young Nigerians who were working for this expatriate company and all of that, it helped us make a way,” he said.
He, however, noted that the strategy eventually became difficult to sustain as people began questioning the identity of the supposed foreign boss.
“It took them about three years to come up and say, ‘Wait, wait, wait, this Dr J that we always hear about signing all the letters, how come we have never seen the person?’” he said.
Cole said the experience showed the extent to which Nigerian entrepreneurs had to navigate structural barriers in the business environment at the time.
The Sahara co-founder also recalled that his entrepreneurial journey began before establishing the energy company, tracing it back to his days as an architecture student at the University of Lagos, where he and his partners started making architectural models for firms.
He said the early ventures taught him the importance of partnerships, innovation and adapting to changing circumstances.
Sahara Group has since grown into a multinational energy conglomerate with operations across several countries. Cole later ventured into politics and contested the Rivers State governorship election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress in 2023.
