The Oando chief says transparency and stronger institutions are essential for African businesses seeking long-term international capital

Group Chief Executive of Oando Plc, Jubril Adewale Tinubu, has urged African businesses to adopt stronger corporate governance, transparent reporting and robust institutional structures as the continent seeks to attract the long-term capital needed to compete globally.

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Tinubu made the call in London during a discussion organised by the Royal African Society on the future of mining, oil and gas in Africa, where he argued that stronger governance for African firms would be critical to improving investor confidence and unlocking international financing.

Reflecting on Oando’s experience of listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange about two decades ago, Tinubu said the process compelled the Nigerian energy company to adopt international financial reporting standards, strengthen its board with independent directors and become more accountable to shareholders.

He acknowledged that the transition was initially uncomfortable but described it as one of the most valuable exercises the company had undertaken.

For Tinubu, the experience demonstrated that corporate governance should extend beyond regulatory compliance.

He said it should serve as a practical framework for making businesses more transparent, credible and attractive to investors.

“Global capital hesitates over what it cannot examine,” Tinubu said.

He explained that companies seeking international funding must be organised in ways that enable investors to understand their operations, financial performance, risks and long-term prospects.

The Oando chief noted that many African businesses had grown from family-owned enterprises with informal management and governance structures. While such arrangements could support businesses in their early stages, he said they could become barriers when companies sought institutional investment or international expansion.

“Governance, hence, is more than a compliance exercise. It is the instrument that makes a company legible to the world,” he said.

Africa’s changing financing landscape

Tinubu also drew attention to changes in the global financing environment, particularly the decision by some European financial institutions to reduce their exposure to African oil and gas projects as they pursue net-zero commitments.

He argued that the withdrawal of some Western lenders had not reduced Africa’s energy requirements or eliminated the need for investment in the sector.

Instead, he said the shift had created an opportunity for African financial institutions to take a more prominent role in financing the continent’s energy and infrastructure development.

Tinubu cited the African Export-Import Bank, Afreximbank, as an example of an institution that had increasingly filled the financing gap in Africa’s oil and gas industry. He said the bank had committed more than $25 billion to the sector.

The comments come as African economies face the challenge of financing energy infrastructure while balancing the growing global pressure to reduce carbon emissions.

Tinubu maintained that Africa still had substantial opportunities across energy, infrastructure and other productive sectors, but said businesses needed the capacity to attract and deploy capital effectively.

“What doesn’t get financed doesn’t get built,” he said.

The Oando executive said the continent therefore needed more companies capable of meeting international standards while demonstrating sound financial management and credible governance.

His comments placed corporate governance at the centre of Africa’s broader development challenge, linking transparency and institutional credibility directly to the ability of businesses to secure investment and expand.

For African companies seeking to move beyond domestic markets, Tinubu’s message was that access to global capital would increasingly depend not only on the strength of their business opportunities but also on how clearly investors could assess and trust the institutions behind them.

He urged businesses across the continent to embrace professional management, transparent financial reporting and stronger boards as foundations for sustainable growth.

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The approach, he suggested, could help African companies build the credibility required to attract patient capital while positioning them to participate more effectively in the continent’s next phase of economic development.