It has been a while since Abdulkabir Adisa Aliu made a strong move in the business and entrepreneurial circles. This could probably have made many associates of the high-flying industrialist to begin to assume that he’s taking a break from oil investments and asset procurement. But farther from that as Aliu is never a slouch that droops away from his responsibilities as an entrepreneur. The Group CEO of Matrix Group is a determined personality always strategizing to bring out his best to excel and exceed his peers from across the sea as they represent national interests. Result from that was the news of Aliu leading Matrix Group to join in partnership with the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council to create a sustainable niche market for crude and guarantee a steady crude supply just like other international oil trading companies. Aliu and the council entered into a partnership after having satisfied the requirements they each set for themselves.
CWEIC is a non-profit organisation with a vast web of connections. It has more than 50 Commonwealth member nations as partners and doubles that number of innovative businesses with which it runs a joint global venture. By every indication, Aliu and his Matrix Group will have a stronger base from which to run their business operations, which is the same as saying that Matrix Group has levelled up and is no longer in the same league as its peers.
Spotlight gathered that Matrix —incorporated November 25, 2004 as an indigenous integrated oil marketing and trading company in Nigeria— began to pursue this strategy in 2019 by participating in Project Eagle which was concluded in July 2020 where the group invested equity in order to have 15,000 barrels of crude oil per day for a period of five years. In July 2020, Matrix, in conjunction with VITOL, successfully secured a five-year-term contract as an off-taker lender with NNPC which granted the company access to 30,000bpd, thus allowing Matrix as an indigenous African trader to further expand its space and play in a space hitherto dominated by International Traders.