George Calil (businessman)
George Calil | |
---|---|
Died | 1967 |
Nationality | Lebanese |
Occupation | Businessman in Kano, Nigeria |
Organization | Nigerian Oil Mills |
Children | Ely Calil, Bernard Calil, five daughters |
Relatives | George Calil (grandson) |
George Calil (died 1967) was a Lebanese businessman who operated his business in the Nigerian city of Kano. He was a major groundnut trader in the 1940s–1960s and was one of the earliest entrepreneurs who invested in manufacturing units in the city of Kano and other parts of the country.
Career
[edit]George Calil arrived in Kano in 1928, and soon joined the groundnut trade. He was able to win minimal concessions from the commodity control boards which allowed him to become a producer agent.[1] He settled in Kano with his family in the 1920s, with two sons and five daughters.[2]
He established an experimental groundnut crushing factory in 1941 in Kano.[3] He founded Nigerian Oil Mills in 1951,[4] which is an oil processing mill in Kano. He later established a few foundries producing tea kettles and silver plates and supplying casting materials to the Nigerian Railway Corporation and a few other local plants.[1]
In 1959, he incorporated a company to select quality nuts for the overseas confectionary trade.[4]
Personal life
[edit]Calil was fluent in fourteen languages.[4] He died of stomach cancer in 1966.[2] He died in 1967, and his business was transferred to his sons, Ely Calil and Bernard Calil.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Tom G. Forrest. The Advance of African Capital: The Growth of Nigerian Private Enterprise, University of Virginia Press, 1994. p 204. ISBN 0-8139-1562-7.
- ^ a b "The Secret World of Oil", Verso Books, Ken Silverstein, 05-10-2014
- ^ "Industrialization in an Open Economy: Nigeria 1945-1966", Peter Kilby, page 170, 1969
- ^ a b c "The Advance of African Capital: The Growth of Nigerian Private Enterprise", Tom Forrest, page 204, University of Virginia Press, 1994