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Ade Adeola

Manging Director, Energy & Natural Resources

Standard Charted Bank

Ade Adeola is Managing Director, Standard Chartered Bank’s Energy & Natural Resources Europe and Africa. His team is focused on providing investment banking solutions for clients across the energy value chain using multiple products. Prior to this role, Ade had functioned as Deputy Managing Director - Wholesale Bank/Head Origination & Client Coverage- Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria where he was accountable for business development and governance.

He was previously Global Head, Oil & Gas Project Finance and Head, Project & Export Finance, Africa. He has successfully led the origination and execution of several financial advisory, M&A, DCM, capital structure and treasury solutions covering project financings, pre-export finance corporate-hybrids, and mezzanine financings for Oil & Gas and infrastructure projects globally. He also has cross-functional experience in Commercial banking, Treasury and Investment banking.

He began his banking career with OBN Limited a subsidiary of Middle East Bank Dubai UAE in 1987. In 1999, he joined Standard Chartered Bank and has functioned in commercial and investment banking roles in multiple geographies. He has over 35 years of core banking experience with over 20 years track record of success in business leadership and governance roles.

He obtained a Bachelor of Science honours degree in Geography and Regional Planning from the University of Benin in 1987; an MBA from Cass Business School, City University of London (2009) and is an Alumnus of the Strategic Leadership programme, University of Oxford- Said Business School. (2012) He is also an accredited Fellow of the Chartered Energy Institute.

Ade is an industry thought leader invited regularly as a speaker and trainer on emerging markets financing to international conferences and fora across Europe, Middle East and Africa. Ade enjoys originating and providing leadership to complex transactions and has led several landmark transactions in energy and infrastructure helping sponsors to raise funding and deliver on important projects globally

Adly Kafafy

VP Africa and New Ventures

TAQA Holding

As the VP of TAQA Arabia for Africa and New Ventures, Adly is focusing on
developing the Energy business in Africa, seeking all new opportunities to flourish
the energy sector all over the continent.

Focusing on utilization of African Gas for Africa, Adly is leading the investment of
TAQA Arabia in Mozambique for the development of 20 CNG stations, natural gas
distribution in addition to new initiative in solar energy. Moreover, through the
investment in 12 new CNG stations in Tanzania, inaugurating the first integrated
CNG filling station and conversion center in November 2023, as well as natural gas
distribution and a mini-LNG project.

Furthermore, Adly is leading a new investment as well for natural gas distribution
in KSA where he is creating new opportunities and opening different sectors by
offering energy solutions as backup systems to industrial clients as well as
commercial. Moreover, offering energy solutions to remote locations to create
demand for this off grid area and then encourage other investors to take part to
create an infrastructure worth the current and future investment.

Before being appointed as TAQA Arabia VP, Adly was the General Manager of
Elsewedy Electric in Algeria for 10 years. where he crafted an impressive growth
path rising from supply chain manager to general manager, leading the
manufacturing facility of cables in Algeria and leading the contracting business
and renewable energy.

Aldo Napolitano

Exploration Director

Eni

Andrea Barberi

Managing Director Congo

Eni

Brian Reinsborough

President & CEO

ReconAfrica

Daniel Kiptoo

Director General

Energy & Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), Kenya

Egbert Faibille Jnr

CEO, Petroleum Commission, Ghana

Ghana Petroleum Commission

Egbert holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the University of Ghana, Legon. 
Mr. Faibille Jnr worked with the GNPC during which period he was seconded to the West African Gas Pipeline Project (WAGP) as the Ghana Country Communication Representative of the project.
He subsequently joined the British American Tobacco (BAT) as Corporate & Regulatory Affairs Manager.
He was called to the Bar in October, 2004.
Egbert holds an LLM in Oil and Gas Law from the University of Aberdeen, and a Certificate in Strategic Management of Regulatory and Enforcement Agencies from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Mr Faibille Jnr was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission in August, 2017.
He is a member of the Board of the Petroleum Commission and chairs the Local Content Committee. 

Enamegwolo Agbro

CEO

Multiplan Nigeria

Ena Agbro is the Chief Operating Officer of Multisub Energy Limited. He joined the
company in December 2022 and successfully led the company to first oil in September
2023 from Olure Field which was awarded during the 2020/2021 Bid Round in Nigeria.
He is a competent person with proven technical and leadership skills in hydrocarbon
exploration, appraisal, development, production, asset evaluations, development of work
programs and budget, stakeholders’ management, corporate strategy, commercial
negotiations and project management with over 23 years of experience.
He previously worked in Oando Energy Resources as Principal Geophysicist and held other
key positions in Orion Energy Services Limited, Degeconek Nigeria Limited, United
Geophysical Nigeria Limited where he supervised various oil and gas development
projects both locally and internationally. He also worked in Shell as a Contract Reservoir
Engineer.
He has attended several training courses, participated in several workshops and
conferences both locally and internationally.
He holds a Bachelor degree in Geophysics from Ambrose Alli University and M.Tech in
Petroleum Engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri. He also holds
an MBA in Oil and Gas Management from the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.

Eng. Ziria Waako

Chief Executive Officer

Electricity Regulatory Authority

Heine Melkevik

Senior Advisor

ICA Finance

Honourable Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu

Minister of Energy and Mineral Development

Repulic of Uganda

Humphrey Assimwe

CEO

Uganda Chamber of Mines & Petroleum (UCMP)

Hussein Matar

Senior Director, Business Development

AMEA Power

Javier Montero

Upstream Finance

Trafigura

Javier is part of the Trafigura Upstream Finance team, where he originates, structures and syndicates senior debt, junior debt, mezzanine and hybrid debt instruments for E&P companies. Before joining Trafigura in 2019, Javier worked in the Oil and Gas Structured Finance team at Standard Bank, where he originated and structured reserves-based lending transactions for junior upstream companies.

Jean Madzongwe

Transaction Director

Southern African Power Pool

Jeremy Asher

Chairman & CEO

Tower Resources

Jeremy is Chairman and CEO of Tower Resources plc, and he is also Chairman of Agile Energy Limited, a privately held energy investment company, and Senior Independent Director at Block Energy Limited, an AIM-listed exploration and production company with operations in the Republic of Georgia. Until November 2018 he also served as a Director of Pacific Drilling SA, where he chaired the Remuneration Committee and was a member of the Restructuring Committee. He has also served as Deputy Chairman of LSE-listed Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd (until June 2014) and TASE-listed Oil Refineries Ltd (until December 2014). Following several years as a management consultant, he ran the global oil products trading business at Glencore AG and then acquired, developed and sold the 275,000 b/d Beta oil refinery at Wilhelmshaven in Germany. Between 1998 and 2001 he was CEO of PA Consulting Group, and since that time has been an investor and Director in various public and private companies. 

John Smelcer

Managing Director, Business Development, Head of Southern Africa

Globeleq

John has 20 years’ experience working in the energy & infrastructure sectors. He leads Globeleq’s business development activities in Southern Africa and recently led the 450MW Temane gas fired project in Mozambique, which reached financial close in December 2021. Prior to his time at Globeleq, John was a commercial and legal advisor in London and South Africa where he was recognised as a leading advisor on large scale energy projects and project financings and was involved in some of the largest LNG projects in emerging economies including in Qatar, Papua New Guinea and across the African continent as well as working on large scale gas fired power projects and other complex energy projects.

In addition to his Globeleq role, John regularly leads training seminars with senior government officials and other stakeholders related to energy developments and financings.

John holds a Juris Doctor of Law degree from the University of Washington and an undergraduate degree from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He is a member of the New York bar.

Jonathan Ross

Head of Energy Commodities

RMB

Kadijah Amoah

Chief Executive Officer

Pecan Energies

Ms. Kadijah Amoah is the Chief Executive Officer of Pecan Energies Ghana Limited(Formerly, Aker Energy Ghana Limited). She is the first Ghanaian woman to lead an oil and gas exploration and production company.   

She is a member of the Executive Management Team of Pecan Energies in Norway and holds directorships in AGM Petroleum Ghana and Aker Ghana Investment Company. She is also a council member of the Ghana Upstream Petroleum Chamber.  

Prior to joining Aker Energy which has been renamed Pecan Energies, Ms. Amoah worked as Head of Investments and Business Development at the Office of the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana. She was the Government of Ghana lead of the Millennium Challenge Corporation and Government of Ghana lead of the U.K Ghana Business Council.    

Ms. Amoah holds a B.A. (Hons) in Political Science and Sociology, LLB (Hons), and an M.Sc. in International Business from the University of Ghana. She also holds a Diploma in Legal Practice from the Institute of Legal Practice and Development in Rwanda, a Post Graduate Diploma in Strategy and Innovation and an Executive Masters in Business Administration from the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.  

Ms. Amoah is an alumnus of the International Leader’s Programme of the U.K Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Raisa Program by the Spanish government. She is an Eisenhower Fellow and a member of Oriel Law Society, Oriel College. 

Luca Faccenda

MD Cote d’Ivoire

Eni

Luca Vignati

Upstream Director

Eni

Maidei Matika

Chief Investment Facilitator

Gauteng Industrial Development Zone (IDZ)

Mario Bello

Head of Sub Saharan Region

Eni

Marlise Schmidt

Transaction Director

Globeleq Africa Limited

Martin Kavanagh

Partner

HSF

Martin Kavanagh is a partner of global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, based in the firm's London office. He is the global co-Head of the Africa Group and Head of Practice for Projects in UK, US, Middle East & Africa. Martin specialises in energy and infrastructure finance and energy project development, and has significant experience acting for corporates, borrowers, commercial lenders, multilateral agencies and Export Credit Agencies, as well as governments, particularly in Africa and other emerging markets. Martin was named as Emerging Markets Infrastructure Finance Lawyer of the Year in England at the 2024 Global Law Experts Annual Awards for the sixth consecutive year (2019-2024). He is also consistently recognised by the leading legal directories as a leader in his field in the UK and globally, including in Africa, where he is ranked by Chambers Global 2024 for Africa-wide Projects & Energy and for Africa-wide Project Finance. Client accolades include "He is very good at understanding how to structure a deal so it meets lenders' requirements. He is very calm and level-headed; he handles heated situations very well" (Chambers Global 2024: Africa-wide Projects & Energy).
 

Matthew Cullinan

Chief Executive Officer

Atlantis Special Economic Zone

Morgan Elred

Founder

Digital Energy

Dr. Morgan Eldred, founder of Digital Energy, brings an extensive background in crafting futuristic visions, and driving innovation and transformation. With over 20 years of international experience, Morgan has worked across the globe, including assignments in Ireland, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Japan, Qatar, and the UAE. His professional journey includes roles with esteemed companies such as Gartner, Maersk Oil, and Shell.

Nick de Blocq

CEO

Kinetiko Energy

Nick de Blocq is an oilfield engineer and currently the CEO of Kinetiko Energy, an ASX listed company with onshore gas assets in South Africa. Kinetiko is the owner of the Rights Holder in SA, Afro Energy, which has over 6000 km2 under exploration rights and application. Afro Energy has a certified gas resource of 6 TCF 2C and 5.8 TCF 2U.

Nick has over 36 years of global upstream experience across 70 countries in varying levels of management, mostly with Schlumberger. From field engineering roles to location and multi-country management, he has performed as a Sub-Saharan Geomarket BDM, Africa VP for an American corporate, he has consulted into the industry, helped to grow a local services company in the Mauretania-Senegal area and briefly ran an Environmental Services company in Mozambique before being asked to join Kinetiko.

He has served on the SA National Ports Authority Oil and Gas Committee and has strong relationships in the offices of the Petroleum Regulator and DMRE due to his unwavering focus on compliance and safety.

Nick has spoken at various industry conferences and chaired sessions across the continent of Africa over the last three decades.

Nick Mitchell

Chief Operating Officer

Renergen

Nick Mitchell is Chief Operating Officer at Renergen, which owns the country’s first and only Onshore Petroleum Production Right awarded to its subsidiary Tetra4 (Pty) Ltd.

Having focused on the Energy sector since 2013, he has jointly led development the Virginia Gas Project from a green field, stranded gas asset, into a world-class operating and producing natural gas field. The project involved the complete integration across the upstream exploration, mid-stream processing and downstream distribution, setting new benchmarks for energy diversification and sustainability.

His oversight includes achieving strategic milestones such as producing the first commercial domestic LNG in South Africa. He provides strategic leadership, and direction to the team and does this in leadership style that fosters a culture of creativity, innovation, and cross-functional teamwork. Has served as Chairman of the Onshore Petroleum Association of South Africa (ONPASA) since 2017 and was appointed as a Trustee to the Upstream Training Trust (UTT) in 2020 and represented the UTT in a temporary Chairman role too.

Nina Bowyer

Managing Partner

Herbert Smith Freehills LLP

Nina Bowyer is a Paris-based corporate partner at global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, Regional Managing Partner for the EMEA and co-Head of the firm's Africa Group. Nina has over 20 years' experience in the energy sector across the full value chain (including oil and gas/LNG, hydrogen, power and renewables), both on corporate M&A transactions and project development work. She is dual qualified (English and French law) and has a particular focus on Africa, having advised on matters involving over 40 jurisdictions across the African continent over the past 20+ years.  Nina is a regular speaker at Africa industry focused events and is consistently ranked as a leading lawyer for Africa. Chambers Global 2024 (Africa-wide Projects & Energy) quotes client sources as saying that "She is smart, committed and available. She is also hard-working and comprehends things really quickly - almost immediately she'll have thought of a solution and all the additional things we need to consider." 
 

Pinehas Mutota

Executive Economic and Market Regulation

Electricity Control Board, Namibia

Rashid Abdallah

Executive Director

African Energy Commission (AFREC)

Robin Sutherland

CEO

Monitor Exploration

Following a BSc in Geophysics from Edinburgh University, Robin relocated to Tunis and has now been exploring for oil, gas and minerals on the African continent for over 35 years. He has held a variety of technical and leadership roles in African businesses, joining the highly respected Energy Africa team in Cape Town in 1997, prior to the transformational discoveries in Equatorial Guinea, and leading Tullow’s exploration team through the discovery and appraisal of the Jubilee and TEN fields in Ghana before becoming Tullow’s exploration GM for the continent in 2015. Since leaving Tullow he has focussed on promoting investment and economic growth while reducing the significant impact of climate change on Africa. Robin joined the Monitor team as a senior adviser in 2021 and has since contributed significantly to the company’s strategy, business plan and technical understanding. 

Shahil Juggernath

Business Development

ENGIE

Shameela Soobramony

Chief Executive Director

NBI

Steve Husbands

Head of Commercials - Energy Advisory

SLR

Thabo Molekoa

Managing Director

Siemens

Mr. Thabo Kekana is a qualified Chemical Engineer, business, and project development professional with extensive experience in diverse sectors spanning over two decades. Mr Kekana is currently the Deputy Director General: Programmes and Projects within the department with the overall responsibility to Manage, Coordinate and Monitor Minerals and Energy Programmes and Projects.

Mr Kekana holds an MSc in Engineering (Project Management) from the University of Pretoria; completed GIBS Business School’s Certificate Programme for Management Development (PMD) and holds a BSc in Engineering (Chemical) from the University of Natal (now UKZN). He brings several years of technical experience gained both locally and globally in the Oil and Gas sectors having worked amongst others for Sasol, UOP (USA) and Natref specialising in engineering, energy efficiency initiatives, operations, contract and project management including leading strategic teams.

In addition, Mr Kekana has 13 years’ experience at the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) where he specialised amongst others in development finance, business development, project development, strategy development, stakeholder and risk management. He has a flexible and agile approach towards portfolio management of complex programmes; all of which, could be surmised as his key strengths. Mr Kekana is no stranger in the public sector as he participated and contributed towards the development of key government initiatives (e.g. Biofuels strategy, IRP2010, Green Hydrogen Commercialisation strategy, Junior Mining Exploration Fund) and consequently established collaborations with various key stakeholders hence promoting the much needed public-private partnerships.

Mr Kekana has an illustrious and enviable career that demonstrates a meaningful accelerated trajectory of providing strategic leadership presence, effective communication, decision making, subject matter technical expertise and guidance in key positions he held. Conceptualising his vision as a servant leader and core to his role, Mr. Kekana brings a leadership mantra that is premised on the basis of putting people first; which is drawn from the principles of Ubuntu, whilst striving to have an optimised and cohesive team at all times.
In one of his classic quotes, Nelson Mandela said: “It’s always seems impossible until it is done”. Underpinning this journey and informed by the above mentioned quote, Mr. Kekana commits to display a professional astute in building a culture of excellence, empathy and integrity throughout. This, in his overarching approach, endeavours to drive execution to sustain a long and lasting momentum. In doing so, he aims to bring the vision and purpose in a multi-stakeholder environment to fruition by implementing high impact cross-functional portfolio of programmes within mining and energy sectors. Furthermore, the above would be driven by the quest to achieve significant transformation across the two key economic sectors, thus ensuring meaningful participation by people with disabilities, African women and youth, and ultimately promoting a Balanced Energy Transition in the South African context for long term socio-economic sustainability of our country.

William Breeze

Partner

Herbert Smith Freehills LLP

William Breeze is a partner and Head of the Energy Transition and Infrastructure Finance practice in the London office of global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills.  He has a particular focus on extractives and commodity finance matters, ranging from natural resources project finance to structured commodity trade finance, globally and with a particular focus on Africa.  William is a recommended individual in Legal 500 2013-2024 inclusive, which refers to him as having "excellent legal knowledge and anticipates the commercial issues which may arise", "a first-choice lawyer for ESG issues in the mining finance and renewables sectors " and a "standout partner".  William is "highly regarded" by IFLR 1000 2018-2024 inclusive for banking, project finance and trade finance and in energy and oil & gas and is a Thomson-Reuters Standout Lawyer for 2023 and 2024.