When people talk about success, they often focus on the end — the wealth, the fame, and the influence. But for Kevin Okyere, Ghana’s billionaire oil magnate and founder of Springfield Group, success began with something as simple as selling iced water at a football stadium.
Born in 1980 in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, Kevin grew up in an affluent family. His father was a successful businessman involved in construction, steel manufacturing, and large-scale cocoa farming.
But Kevin was determined not to live off his father’s fortune. Even as a young boy, he wanted to earn his own way.
At just 11 years old, while other children played after school, Kevin packed iced water into coolers and sold them to football fans at the Kumasi Sports Stadium, earning the nickname “Eddie Murphy” after the popular movie Coming to America.
“I didn’t want to depend on my parents for everything,” Kevin would later say. “I wanted to understand the value of hard work.”
The Making of an Entrepreneur
During the family’s yearly trips to London, Kevin continued his hustle, working part-time jobs with textile companies during the holidays. That strong work ethic became his foundation.
After completing high school in Ghana, Kevin moved to the United States to study Accounting at George Mason University in Virginia. While there, he worked multiple jobs to support himself — as a caregiver for the mentally challenged, a security guard, and even in the mailroom at AOL.
Later, he secured a better role as a radio programmer at XM Satellite Radio (now Sirius XM) and worked in customer service at Sprint. By the time he graduated, he had a job offer from a major American commercial bank worth USD 72,000 a year — a dream salary for many young graduates.
But Kevin had a different dream. He turned down the offer and decided to return home to Ghana.
The Birth of a Business Vision
In 2004, Kevin returned to Ghana, convinced that his home country was full of opportunities waiting to be seized. “Ghana was a virgin land,” he said. “While the U.S. was saturated, there was so much room to grow here.”
He first joined his sister’s business to understand how the local market worked. A year later, he gathered a small team of investors and launched Westland Alliance Ltd, a telecommunications company that provided call routing services for international firms like AT&T and calling card companies.
The business expanded into cell towers and mobile value-added services — and it thrived. But after a few years, Kevin began to look beyond telecoms. He wanted something bigger, something with real impact.
Finding His Oil Fortune
In 2006, while still running Westland Alliance, Kevin met a businessman who supplied crude oil to Ghana’s Tema Oil Refinery. Kevin noticed a critical gap: there weren’t enough storage facilities for petroleum products. Sensing an opportunity, he invested his telecom earnings into building a tank farm near the refinery.
When officials from Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority (NPA) visited to inspect the project, they were shocked. A 26-year-old building a multimillion-dollar energy facility was almost unheard of. Impressed, they encouraged him to apply for a petroleum import license.
That moment marked the birth of Springfield Energy, the foundation of what would become the Springfield Group.
By 2008, Springfield was importing refined petroleum products — gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel, and gasoil — into Ghana. The company quickly became one of the largest and most trusted fuel importers in the country, generating over USD 1 billion in annual trading revenue.
When BP PLC came to Ghana in 2010 seeking a local partner, they chose Springfield — a major vote of confidence in Kevin’s growing empire.
Breaking Barriers in Oil Exploration
Kevin’s ambition didn’t stop at trading oil. He wanted Ghana to not only import but also explore and produce its own oil. In 2016, Springfield acquired a controlling 82% stake in the West Cape Three Points Block 2 (WCTP2) in the Gulf of Guinea, covering 673 square kilometers of offshore territory.
This bold move made Springfield the first indigenous Ghanaian company to explore for oil — a major milestone in the nation’s energy history. The company invested more than USD 70 million into exploration, a huge leap for a local entrepreneur.
Today, Springfield Group operates across the entire oil and gas value chain — from exploration and trading to storage, transportation, and distribution.
Expanding Across Africa
In 2011, Kevin and his business partner, Geena Malkani, expanded to Nigeria, forming Springfield Ashburton. By 2014, the company became the first Ghanaian firm awarded a crude oil lifting contract by Nigeria’s state oil corporation, NNPC.
Springfield now operates across Ghana and Nigeria, co-owning gas stations, haulage companies, and oilfield service subsidiaries — all under the same banner of African-led excellence.
Giving Back: The Kevin Okyere Foundation
Despite his massive success, Kevin remains deeply committed to giving back. Through the Kevin Okyere Foundation, in partnership with Springfield Group, he funds education and healthcare initiatives across Ghana.
The foundation pays hospital bills for poor patients at Ghana’s largest government-owned hospital, provides scholarships for primary school students, and sponsors the brightest young Ghanaians to study in Europe and North America.
“I know what it means to start small,” he says. “So, I want others to have the chance to dream big.”
The Billionaire With Humble Roots
In just over a decade, Kevin Okyere transformed from a young boy selling iced water in the hot sun to a billionaire oil magnate employing hundreds across West Africa.
His company, Springfield Group, is now valued in the billions, with operations spanning oil exploration, energy trading, logistics, and fuel distribution. Yet, his humility, discipline, and faith remain unchanged.
He often tells young entrepreneurs, “Don’t let your beginnings limit your dreams. What matters is not where you start — it’s where you’re determined to go.”
A Symbol of African Possibility
Kevin Okyere’s story is not just about money — it’s about vision, courage, and the power of believing in one’s homeland. From selling iced water to building Ghana’s first indigenous oil exploration company, he has proven that Africa’s future belongs to those bold enough to build it.
