Honeywell Group Limited (HGL) has received the Generational Excellence in Business Award on the 2026 Family Business Leadership Awards, in recognition of its transition throughout three generations and its sustained enterprise progress.
The award was offered on October 15 on the Mike Adenuga Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos, throughout the Family Business Summit organised by BusinessDay in partnership with PwC Nigeria.
HGL, which formalised its operations in 1972, has developed from a buying and selling enterprise working throughout West Africa right into a Nigerian funding holding firm with pursuits in flour milling, actual property, monetary companies and infrastructure.
Foluke Oyeleye, Non-Executive Director, and Tomi Otudeko, Chief Operating Officer, acquired the award on behalf of the Group.
Speaking on the popularity, Otudeko traced the enterprise to her grandmother, noting that her father later formalised it to ascertain a extra structured enterprise.
“Honeywell Group started three generations ago from my grandmother. It was my father’s wish to formalise the business, which at the time was trading across West Africa,” she mentioned.
“Over 50 years later, the business has been passed down to the third generation, and it is wonderful to be recognised for excellence.”
Oyeleye devoted the award to her mother and father, attributing the Group’s journey to what she described as God’s grace. She additionally acknowledged the contributions of HGL’s workers and the help of her six siblings, significantly the management of Managing Director Obafemi Otudeko.
At the summit, Otudeko participated in a fireplace chat titled “More Than a Surname: Building a Reputation That Outlives the Founder,” the place she mentioned the significance of constructing credibility alongside a longtime household legacy.
“Legacy may provide a platform, but reputation is earned through consistency, competence, and character,” she mentioned.
Oyeleye additionally spoke on the NextGen Spotlight Session, the place she mirrored on how companies can protect the teachings of earlier generations whereas embracing contemporary views. Drawing on her expertise exterior the household enterprise and her involvement in the crew that championed HGL’s funding in Econet, she highlighted the function of inherited information and new concepts in sustaining a enterprise throughout generations.
Family companies play a big function in Nigeria’s economic system. Findings offered by PwC Nigeria on the 2024 Family Business Summit indicated that they account for greater than 70 per cent of the nation’s small and medium-sized enterprises and contribute near half of its gross home product.
For HGL, the award marks a milestone in a work trip spanning greater than 5 many years. The Group says it stays targeted on constructing companies and creating lasting worth for future generations.
