Bako Ambianda, is a Cameroonian, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Labacorp Group of Companies. He is also the CEO of Labacorp Energy Limited.
Today, the Labacorp Group has grown from just housing an events organizing team to owning businesses across manufacturing,
power, construction, agribusiness, and exhibition sectors with operations in six countries with 79 employees, and a footprint in Africa, Middle East and North America.
Bako Ambianda has been listed on Forbes Africa 30 under 30, Class of 2020, and has been named one of the Most Influential People of African Descent (Under 40) by MIPAD, 50 Most Admired Global Africans by PASSION VISTA, and received the 2018 Global Business Disruptor Award by PAYA.
He is an international development expert, author, speaker, philanthropist and entrepreneur. Through his activities in the personal development industry, he created Bako Ambianda International (BAI), also known as The Bako University to inspire young professionals through books, videos, and personal growth trainings.
In this interview with NDUBUISI MICHEAL OBINEME of Oil and Gas Republic, Bako speaks about his company, Labacorp Energy, and business plan to unlocking Cameroon’s potential in the Energy industry. Excepts:
OGR: Please tell us more about Labacorp Energy?
Bako: I am a Global African Entrepreneur, seeking to build great companies that will foster development, especially in Africa, because Africa is yet to achieve its growth potential in terms of economic development. I serve as the President and CEO of Labacorp Energy, a subsidiary of Labacorp Group.
Labacorp Energy Limited is an indigenous oil and gas service company with operations primarily in West and Central Africa, and interests in other international markets. Our main services are distribution of Olympus Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) products, promotion of Oil and Gas exploration and production opportunities, provision of technical and engineering services, marketing of innovative Oil and Gas products, marine logistics support services, procurement, sale and distribution of petroleum.
OGR: What are your plans to getting involved in Cameroon’s major industries, more particularly the energy sector?
Bako: Most of the major industries in Cameroon are yet to be developed or are not working to their full potentials for one reason or the other, ranging from lack of funds to lack of equipment and operational expertise. This is a major opportunity for investors to tap into.
They can take advantage of these challenges and put their money into these industries and be sure to make a lot more.
Thanks to our top-notch partners and extensive network in and out of Cameroon, Labacorp Energy Limited has the ability to
bring the business and the resources needed to unlock the potentials in Cameroon’s major industries, especially in the energy sector.
OGR: You will be organising an Oil & Gas Business Mission to Cameroon, what are your business strategies to attract foreign investors?
Bako: Cameroon is the sixth-largest producer of crude oil in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, currently producing over 100000 barrels per day. The National Hydrocarbons Corporation (SNH) under the supervision of the government of Cameroon has put out nine blocks in the hydrocarbons rich Rio Del Rey Basin and in the highly prospective Douala/Kribi-Campo Basin on promotion.
These are opportunities that if tapped into and exploited; by bringing in the right people and businesses with expertise in the sector, Cameroon can see itself moving higher in the energy production ranks thereby leading to an overall development of the energy sector and why not other sectors related energy.
It is very common to hear Cameroon being referred to as Africa in miniature probably because it is possible to find almost everything on the African continent in Cameroon.
Apart from Oil, Cameroon has a whole lot of opportunities, ranging from agriculture and horticulture to transport, education and training, health, and mining. It is worth noting that Cameroon recently discovered 300 new mineral deposit sites in five regions of the country, and these sites cover only 40% of the country’s national territory, leaving a huge 60% still to be explored. This is just one of the many attractive opportunities that can be exploited in Cameroon.
The Oil and Gas Business Mission to Cameroon is scheduled to take place from June 7 – 10, 2021. The main strategy we are putting in place to attract foreign investors is finding what these investors are looking for and using the Oil and Gas Business Mission to Cameroon as a gateway for them to get these things.
Investors are looking for concrete opportunities and the Oil Gas Business Mission to Cameroon will focus on oil and gas exploitation opportunities and doing business in the oil and gas sector in Cameroon.
We are also putting forward the advantages the oil and gas industry has to offer, and the opportunity to build networks with existing oil and gas companies in the country