- As SPAR wins brand award
Peter Uzoho
In recognition of his contributions to the Nigerian service industry, the Group Managing Director of Artee Group, one of Nigeria’s leading
business conglomerates, Mr. Haresh Keswani, has been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Also, SPAR, the retail store brand of the group, also won the Retail Brand of the Year at the BusinessDay Nigerian Business Leadership Awards 2019.
The BusinessDay Leadership Awards was created to recognise leaders who have created and sustained outstanding entrepreneurial initiatives and built successful businesses that are strengthening Nigeria’s global competitiveness and attraction as a destination for talent and
capital.
The sectoral award won by SPAR was in recognition of its business agility, market share growth, financial strength, leadership vision and resilience in varying economic conditions.
The Lifetime Achievement Awards won by Keswani, was specifically in recognition of his pioneering effort in the second-wave retail revolution in Nigeria through the birth of Park ‘n’ Shop, thus making the business grow into a dominant player in the retail industry with over 50,000 metre square under the SPAR brand.
Expressing his delight at the award ceremony in Lagos recently, Keswani said: “It is a great honour to be nominated for the award as it beams the spotlight on the efforts of the company in touching
several lives. I am grateful to God, family, friends and colleagues who have enhanced the vision till date.
“I am glad to have touched people’s lives in various ways and our organisation would not be deterred in supporting laudable initiatives of the government.
“Many of our businesses are in response to the
government’s policies and this has further enhanced the economy of the country. We believe in Nigeria and Nigerians; we know that there are
huge opportunities in the country despite the challenges.”
In recent years, Keswani has become an advocate of Human Capital Development and he encourages every leader to be legacy-minded and to focus on the next generation. This led him to the creation of initiatives such as ‘Next-Gen Role Model’ workshops, to mentor budding entrepreneurs of Nigeria.
He also created ‘Farmers Academy’ to teach farmers how to improve yields and reduce wastages, as well as the ‘SME Developments
Workshops’ to train and inspire business owners.
After spending 39 years in Nigeria, he said he adherently believes in the country, noting that the business will become a dominant player in the Agriculture and Food Processing space with the sole aim of improving the food value chain.
