The CEO of a wholly-owned Ghanaian energy company, Springfield Exploration and Production (SEP) Limited, Kevin Okyere, has been named among the Top 25 Movers and Shakers to Watch in the world in 2020 by the Africa Energy Chamber.
The Chamber launched the inaugural list on last Wednesday.
Providing a window to what key developments and advancements the African energy sector can look forward to next year and beyond, the list profiles key individuals who stand to contribute significantly in shaping the continent’s energy economy.
The list, not confined to Africans, features key industry dealmakers such as Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, who chairs the Dangote Group, which is about completing its 650,000 bpd Lagos-based “game-changing” refinery; the President of the United States of America, Mr Donald J. Trump, whose “America-first oil politics is likely to affect global prices and the appetite of American majors to look outside.”
“With this list, we hope to put all key role players to task, we want to challenge them and pose the questions: ‘What’s next? Are you going to deliver on your plans and promises? How will you and your organisation contribute to the development of Africa’s oil and gas sector?’,” said N.J. Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber and author of Amazon best-selling book ‘Billions at Play: The Future of African Energy and Doing Deals’.
“This year alone, the continent has seen improved cooperation and investment, large-scale discoveries, world-scale projects coming online that make Africa the world’s hottest oil and gas frontier. The next step is to find out how we can maintain this momentum and the people on this list can certainly provide answers. Africans should demand more from them”, Ayuk added.
The Top 25 Movers and Shakers to Watch list forms part of the African Energy Chamber’s African Energy Outlook, which has set out to provide a comprehensive overview of the oil and gas sector across sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on strategic, operational and investment trends in the industry.
“We watch developments in the industry closely and speak to a wide range of stakeholders. What we have noticed, is that a new breed of African oil men and women are playing an ever-greater role in the development of the continent’s resources, including with resources mobilized on the continent. This is a trend we applaud. However, cooperation with international partners who still possess the technology needed to successfully undertake projects is very welcome” said Mickael Vogel, Director of Strategy at the African Energy Chamber.
Mr Okyere currently sits on one of Africa’s “most promising assets” after his company, together with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), made a huge oil find – the maiden Afina-1 well discovery offshore Ghana – in its West Cape Three Points Block 2.