MEET THE TEAM

The Advisory Board

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ENGR. ERNEST NWAPA

Engr Nwapa is a 1982 graduate of the Civil Engineering Department (B.Engr) of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, graduating with honors. Engr Nwapa sits on the board of various Oil & Gas companies including Saipem Contracting, NERIN, Tenaris S.A, Seplat Producing amongst several others.

SALMA OKONKWO

Salma Okonkwo is an entrepreneur in the energy sector, based in West Africa. She is listed as one of thirty people holding a pillar of Ghana’s economy. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.

ENGR. ERNEST NWAPA.

Engr Nwapa is a 1982 graduate of the Civil Engineering Department (B.Engr) of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, graduating with honors. Engr Nwapa sits on the board of various Oil & Gas companies including Saipem Contracting, NERIN, Tenaris S.A, Seplat Producing amongst several others. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Content Future Concepts ltd (NCFC). Engr Nwapa has written several papers and made presentations on the subjects of local content development and capacity building both
locally and internationally and is now internationally recognized and well known for his advocacy and promotion of capacity building and local content development in national oil and gas industries.

Engr Nwapa was appointed as the pioneer Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development & Monitoring Board in April 2010 following the signing of the Nigerian Content Act, where he served until May 2015. He has worked for many years in the international oil and gas industry, gaining most of his experience within various capacities and functions at NNPC.

His appointment as the pioneer Nigerian Content Coordinator in 2004, threw up the challenge of translating volumes of stakeholder recommendations into a comprehensive, implementable policy document, which was submitted to the Federal Government in February 2005 and provided the framework for setting up the NCD in March 2005 where he worked up until his appointment as Group General Manager Nigerian Content Division of NNPC in March 2010 in recognition of his noted contributions to the development of the industry in Nigeria.

SALMA OKONKWO.

Salma Okonkwo is an entrepreneur in the energy sector, based in West Africa. She is listed as one of thirty people holding a pillar of Ghana’s economy. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. In 2007, she founded energy trading business UBI Petroleum, specializing in procurement, storage, marketing and distribution of petroleum products in West Africa, with a primary focus on Ghana. In 2012 Okonkwo expanded her holdings and created the UBI Group, an integrated energy solutions provider. In 2014 Okonkwo sold 49% of the UBI Group to PUMA Energy, which now provides the companies’ technical and operational infrastructure. In 2016 UBI Petroleum became PUMA Energy Ghana.

Salma Okonkwo remains Chairman of both PUMA Energy Ghana and the UBI Group of Companies. She is also the co-founder and board member of Blue Star Exploration and sits on the board of directors of Makmera Upstream, an upstream exploration company and real estate development company. She emerged as Female Energy Personality of The Year at the Ghana Energy Awards 2019. She received the award for her outstanding performance in Ghana’s energy sector.