The Founder

Anwar Jarmakani was the Founder of Jagal and served as Group Executive Chairman from 1978 until 2021.

He was a self-made industrial entrepreneur who came to Nigeria in 1963 and became a Nigerian national. He had a reputation for relentless ambition, leadership, and integrity. Always on a mission, he was a visionary with boundless energy. He was part of a generation of private sector pioneers who arrived during independence and contributed significantly to the country's economic development.

Anwar Jarmakani built a legacy that had an inspiring impact on people, families, communities, and countries from West Africa to the Middle East and beyond. In Nigeria, he supported the development of schools, libraries, and hospitals. In Syria and Lebanon, he funded the Red Crescent and orphanages; provided transport for cancer patients and monthly food supplies for hundreds of families in need, and supported thousands of students throughout their education.

He was the second oldest child, born in 1948 in Salkhad, Syria, and raised on a farmhouse with his parents, three brothers, and three sisters. Every morning, he rode for several hours on horseback carrying water from a well back to his family's home. At the age of 14, he received an envelope at the local post office from his uncle, Nassar Jarmakani, who was far away in Africa. In it there was money and a note saying he should join him. On 8th March, 1963, along with other members of his family he migrated to Lagos, Nigeria and joined his uncle’s trucking company called Jarmakani Transport.

His first job was driving lorries and delivering goods around the country learning all about Nigeria’s rich culture, traditions, and values. He taught himself English by engaging with others along his routes. He met with communities, chiefs, and local governments in his efforts to make deliveries on time to small and large businesses. By 1967, the Nigerian Civil War had begun; he and his brother Mounir moved to the centre of the conflict in the city of Port Harcourt and started making hospital beds for frontline clinics and the army.

After the war ended he travelled back to Syria and got married on 11th May 1973 and returned to Port Harcourt before finally settling back in Lagos. By 1978 he had two children, his daughter Suha and his son Manssour. At this stage in his life he decided to follow his entrepreneurial spirit and finally venture on his own. He established a new business and named it Jagal Nigeria.

He first set out into the construction industry, building factories and offices for the private sector, and airports, power plants, and headquarters for the public sector. He bid and won projects across the country from Lagos to Maiduguri, Port Harcourt to Kaduna. His customers included Guinness, John Holt, Vitafoam, Panalpina, the State Governments, the Federal Government, and many more.

In the 1980s after having his second son, Maher, he started distribution for European pharmaceutical companies including ICI, Roche, Bristol Mayer Squibb, Sandoz, and AstraZeneca. ICI had a particular brand called Tetmosol which he eventually bought and started producing locally.

He ventured into electronics assembling the brand Sollatek from the UK. He then went into the fishing industry setting up a venture with the Russians. He was approached by the Americans to help set up a restaurant called the New Yorker and brought the Polaroid and Adidas brands into the country helping them find local partners.

In the 1990s, he entered the oil and gas sector by forming joint venture partnerships with the likes of Fred Olsen Energy of Norway, Sinopec of China, and Lamnalco of the Netherlands. By the early 2000s, the Jagal Group was recognised as one of Nigeria’s leading conglomerates and its Chairman, Anwar Jarmakani, one of the country's finest businessmen. He was regularly part of presidential visits abroad helping market brand Nigeria.

In 2003, he led the acquisition of Nigerdock, one of the largest Nigerian maritime companies that was privatised by the Federal Government and turned it into the leading shipyard and EPC contractor in the country servicing the offshore energy, shipping, and logistics sectors. He then established Snake Island Integrated Free Zone as part of a push to attract foreign direct investment.

He played a leading role in urging the Government to establish a new law supporting Nigerian companies, the Nigeria Content Development Act.

In the 2010s he established two more joint ventures, one with CHC helicopters of Canada and another with Subsea7 of the UK, Atlantic Aviation and NigerStar7. Under his leadership, Jagal also ventured into the technology sector by establishing Nigeria’s first data centre – Rack Centre.

He passed away on 2nd September, 2021 in London, England.