The Managing Director of Artee Group, the licence holder of SPAR Nigeria, Haresh Keswani, was recently honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award, while SPAR Nigeria was awarded Retail Brand of the year at the BusinessDay Nigerian Business Leadership Awards 2019.

The Business Day Leadership Awards 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 Retail Brand of the year Award won by SPAR Nigeria was in recognition of its business agility, market share growth, financial strength, leadership vision and resilience in varying economic conditions.

The Lifetime Achievement Award won by Haresh Keswani was in recognition of his pioneering efforts in the second-wave retail revolution in Nigeria through the birth of Park ‘n’ Shop. The business has grown under the SPAR Brand to become a dominant player in the retail industry with over 50,000m2.

Mr. Keswani was delighted to receive the award, stating: “It is a great honour to be nominated for the award as it highlights the efforts of the company in touching several lives. I am grateful to family, friends and colleagues who have enhanced the vision to date.”

In recent years, Mr. 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 has led him to create initiatives such as Next-Gen Role Model workshops to mentor budding entrepreneurs in Nigeria, a Farmers Academy to teach farmers how to improve yields and reduce waste, and SME Development Workshops to train and inspire business owners.

After living in Nigeria for 39 years, he believes in the country and noted that the business will become a dominant player in the area of agriculture and food processing with the aim of improving the food value chain.