Frank Nneji (ABC Transport Founder) Biography, Career, Cars & Net Worth

Many of us know ABC Transport company. But not many know about the founder of the company. He is none other than Frank Nneji. The CEO and founder of ABC Transport Company has been in the Nigerian transportation industry for a long while. 

However, not many know about the man behind the ABC Transport brand. In this article, we share some of the facts and finds about the founder and CEO of ABC Transport you should know about.

Frank Nneji Biography

Frank Nneji Uzoawuotu hails from Ezuhhu Nguru, in Aboh, Mbaise Local government area of Imo State. However, he was born in Kaduna State, in the Northern part of Nigeria, on the 30th of April, 1960, to a retired soldier (father) and retired nurse (mother).

After completing primary and secondary school education, Frank proceeded to study Biological sciences at the University of Nsukka, a pre-requisite to study Medicine (his mother’s dream for him) at the time. However, he switched to Zoology and eventually graduated in the year 1982.

While in his early years at UNN, Frank would take past questions of courses being taught from the records office of his university, repackage them, and sell them for a fee to his co-students. Within a year of running his college business, in 1980, his second college year, he was able to raise N500, which he decided to invest in another venture.

His next stint at entrepreneurship was purchasing a student rebate ticket sold at the time by Nigerian Airways, taking a trip to Italy, and buying fashion items ranging from T-Shirts to belts, jeans, and a lot more, for resale in Nigeria. He managed this fashion and education business together while still a student and was able to graduate with a reasonable sum to venture into a larger scaled business.

Upon graduating from the university at age 23, Frank went full-on into the business world with little to no intentions to follow a career in his course of study. Using income, he had saved up from his time as a student and an additional N750 given as allowance by the NYSC. He founded a company named Rapido and started supplying educational materials like whiteboards, audiovisuals, and much more over time.

After completing his University education, he proceeded to the Lagos Business School and, subsequently, the Wharton Business School in the United States of America, where he furthered his education in the business angle.

Frank Nneji Career

After having his stint with other forms of business, Frank set off for another venture. It was at this time the idea of a transportation company started coming up. It started with the series of discomfort Frank experienced while travelling interstate during his early business trips. He was annoyed by the fact that most buses always had an overload of passengers, and their staffs, especially the drivers and bus conductors, were utterly rude.

One time, while en route from the Eastern part of Nigeria to Lagos, he was tightly squeezed in the bus with a nursing mother, and the bus made too many stops to carry passengers. What occupied Frank’s thoughts while on the bus wasn’t just the too many uncomfortable stops but the mother who had to suffer the same fate with her baby.

This got him thinking about the poor management of the road transportation sector and how existing bus companies and business-savvy individuals could take advantage of the problems and grow a compelling business.

Frank remembered his days in the university as the first campus director of the student union and how he used to make money by conveying students to various events in his car for a fee.

Frank Nneji prepared a comprehensive business plan in 1991 with a glaring opportunity and strong will and approached Diamond Bank now Access Bank for a loan. The bank cleared with him and provided a credit facility of N1.5 million, which he used to lease five HiAce buses to start up his business, which he named The Associated Bus Company (ABC).

At the early stage of his startup, he employed his younger brother Jude, who was a trained pharmacist, to begin work with his company immediately after his youth service.

Today, ABC Transport is a multi-million dollar business holding one of the top spots for road transportation in Nigeria, employing well over 1,200 people. The transport company is the first of its kind to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and has subsidiaries ranging from ABEX services to City Transit (hospitality for travellers), along with a 50% stake in Transit Support Services, a trading company engaged in the importation, sales of vehicles spares, installation of motor vehicle speed governing devices, and the assembly of heavy-duty trucks.

With its exceptional services, including air-conditioned buses with toilet facilities and their “Coach West Africa,” which takes its business all across West Africa, Frank Nneji has built a conglomerate that has become one of the highly sought-after by people using the road for a commute across Nigeria.

Frank Nneji’s success has gotten him applaudable awards like:

• Officer of the Order of The Niger (OON), a 2005 award of excellence in transport management by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN)
• Most Outstanding Business Personality from the Aba Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ACCIMA, 2005) 
• Auto Personality of the Year by the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT, 2004) in Zaria, conferment of fellowship award by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

Frank Nneji Cars

While Frank Nneji is the owner of ABC Transportation Company and has a fleet of buses across states in Nigeria, there’s no public knowledge of the personal vehicles the businessman owns.

Frank Nneji Net Worth

Frank Nneji is the founder and CEO of ABC Transport company in Nigeria, chairman of Rapido Foods Ltd, Mayfair Suites and Conference Centre, Owerri, and the Managing Director of City Transit Abuja and Abuja City Sightseeing Tours, Nigeria. Through all of these ventures, Frank Nneji has acquired a net worth that’s estimated at $100 million.