About Speakers Media

South Sudan Oil & Power 2017

South Sudan Oil & Power 2017 was the first dedicated energy and infrastructure event in the nation’s history. On October 11-12, 2017, industry experts, government officials from the Transitional Government of National Unity and leaders from the private sector gathered in Juba to tackle energy and infrastructure challenges and showcase opportunities, including:

Assessing the technology and infrastructure needs for development of the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors, as well as how to finance, build, implement and operate new projects;

Taking on security challenges and overcoming insecurity on the oilfield;

The need for regional energy integration in downstream infrastructure, including refineries and export routes;

Building up local content to promote economic growth; and

Creating gas monetization strategies and encouraging investment in power generation.

The conference, commissioned and endorsed by the Ministry of Petroleum of South Sudan, featured keynote inaugural speeches from H.E. Vice President James Wani Igga, the Ministers of Environment and Forestry, Energy and Dams, and Petroleum. H.E. Amb. Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, Minister of Petroleum, welcomed ministerial delegations from Sudan and Uganda and chief executives of South Sudanese firms and international corporations, including all the joint operating companies of South Sudan. Workshops on day 2 analyzed topics of vital importance to operating in South Sudan, including security, logistics, technology and investment.

Read our conference evaluation report here.

South Sudan Oil & Power follows the release of the Africa Energy Series: South Sudan 2017 book, launched at Africa Oil & Power in Cape Town. Read the full report here.

Click to see the full SSOP gallery here.

Speakers

Keynote Highlights

Become a speaker

H.E. Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth Minister of Petroleum, South Sudan

Honorable Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth has been the Minister of Petroleum of the Republic of South Sudan since August 2016. He was previously South Sudan’s Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations. Minister Gatkuoth received a bachelor’s degree in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Maryland, in College Park, United States.

Hon. Dr Abraham Maliet Mamer Chairman, South Sudan Investment Authority

Datuk Joseph Podtung President, Sudd Petroleum Operating Company

Hon. Dr. Chol Abel Deng Managing Director, Nilepet

Eng. Ramadan Chadar Dhok Vice President, Dar Petroleum Operating Company

Hon. Eng. Mohamed Lino Benjamin Undersecretary, Ministry of Petroleum, South Sudan

Panelist Highlights

Become a speaker

NJ Ayuk CEO, Centurion Law Group

NJ Ayuk is the CEO and Managing Partner of Centurion Law Group, a pan-African corporate law conglomerate. From its headquarters in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, and from affiliate and partner offices throughout Africa, Centurion assists clients that are starting or growing a business on the continent. Mr. Ayuk has been advising major companies on investment strategies, the establishment of joint ventures and cooperation structures, privatization, licensing and related tax, OHADA, Equatorial Guinea law, oil and gas, local content, litigation, negotiations, governance and other matters. He also frequently advises international oil companies, governments, oil service companies, financial institutions, development banks and construction firms across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Sebastian Wagner Executive Director, DMWA Resources

Sebastian Wagner is in charge of Business Development and Corporate Affairs at DMWA Resources. In the past, he has worked with multinational commodity trading companies in oil trading, responsible for managing the oil trading operations across the barrel of African crude and refined products, as well as pursuing pre-financing opportunities in West and Central Africa. His regional focus has been on Congo Brazzaville, Côte d’Ivoire, Chad and Nigeria. Prior to this, Sebastian was an Investment Manager at a leading merchant banking group in sub-Saharan Africa with assets in Southern Africa, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea, where he helped streamlining the banking portfolio through the restructuring and exit of non-core investments.

Kris K. Mbaya Managing Director, UAP Old Mutual South Sudan

Kris is the Managing Director of UAP Insurance South Sudan, having served in the South Sudan market for four years in various capacities and within the UAP group including Finance Manager and General Manager Properties. In addition to the eight years of experience in insurance, he brings a wealth of experience in various sectors, including telecommunications with Communications Authority, and consulting at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce - Accounting & Business Administration and is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. Kris is also a certified Internal Auditor in ISO: 9001 (Quality Management and Control); ISO: 27001 (Information Systems Security Management) and has Six Sigma white belt training.

Mangok Khalil Mangok CEO, Juba Petrotech

Mangok Khalil Mangok is the Managing Director and CEO of Juba Petrotech, part of the Jayathe Petrotech Group, and is a former MD of Nilepet, the national oil company of South Sudan.

Anuol Deng Kuoreng Managing Partner, Awatkeer Law Chambers

Anuol Deng Kuoreng, Barrister at Law is the Founder and Managing Partner of Awatkeer Law Chambers, South Sudanese law firm offering legal services to the general public, financial institutions, Banks, oil companies, private corporation, NGOS, and government institutions. Compelled by desire to contribute positively to the maintenance of the proper rule of law in his country, Mr. Kuoreng established Awatkeer Law Chambers in 2013 and since then it has grown to 17 lawyers based in Juba, South Sudan. Prior to founding Awatkeer Law Chambers, Mr. Kuoreng worked in the Appeals Chambers for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in The Hague. He worked for Minster Law Solicitors in York, England – United Kingdom. He also worked on a Human Right case for Amsterdam and Per off law firm in London. He was the chief Legal Strategist and General Counsel for South Sudan Associated Advocates, a local South Sudanese law firm where advise various clients. When he returned backed to South Sudan in 2012, he was appointed as Director for Legal Certification in the Ministry of Defence, Government of South Sudan a post he held until he established his law firm. Besides that, Mr. Kuoreng is a fully qualified Barrister, having passed the Bar of England and Wales through Honourable Society of Lincolns Inn in London. He holds Masters of Laws from Northumbria University, Bachelors degree in law from Teesside University and Postgraduate Dip in Law in Bar Professional Training Course from Northumbria University through Honourable Society of Lincolns Inn in London. Before going to University he did his ‘A’ levels in Business Administration, Economics, History and Law from Hillcrest International School in Nairobi Kenya (British system of education school).

Makear Michael Dot CEO, Nile Petroleum Service Co.

Michael Dot is CEO of Nile Petroleum Service Co., a company incorporated in October 2011 to meet the requirement of infrastructure development for the oil and gas sector of South Sudan. Nile Petroleum Service Co., which received its first contract in 2012 with the Dar Petroleum Operating Company for oil recovery and tank cleaning, is a local pioneer among service providers in South Sudan.

Dr. Addis Ababa Othow Executive Director, Equity Bank

Dr. Addis Ababa Othow Akongdit attended undergraduate studies at Al–Neelain University, Khartoum, where he graduated in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in economics studies. He then joined Al-Neelain University as a teaching assistant, before being recruited as a banking inspector at the Central Bank of Sudan, Khartoum in 1997.

During his period as bank inspector, he participated in the financial and accounting restructuring of Ivory Bank, Khartoum in 1998, and was seconded in 1999 to the Council of Southern Sudan as Advisor & Planner of Development Projects, which was a program meant to improve the wellbeing of families in South Sudan. In 1999, he completed a master’s degree in economic development at Al-Neelain University, and then continued with his studies, earning a Bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting at Hanze University in the Netherlands in 2007. After graduating, he worked for Dubios & Co Chartered Accountants Amsterdam as an assistant accountant/auditor until 2010.

He then decided to move back to his homeland, the Republic of South Sudan. He joined the Bank of South Sudan in December 2010 as the Head of Non-Banking Division until January 2013, where he was transferred to Head of Planning, Regulation and Licensing Division. He is also a part-time lecturer at College of Social & Economics Studies, University of Juba and a Member of the Board of Trustees of South Sudan Pensions Fund (SSPF). In May 2013, he was awarded a PhD in Political Economy from Al-Neelain University. In February 2015, Dr. Addis joined Equity Bank, Nairobi, Kenya as General Manager Operations.

Charles Linderman General Director, MRDC International

Charles G. Linderman, M.D., FACS is the General Director of the MRDC International. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons receiving specialty training at Fairview & Cleveland Clinic: Cleveland, USA. Dr. Linderman has received commendation from the Secretary of State Colin L. Powell for his distinguish services to the Diplomatic Corps.

For the last 13 years, Dr. Linderman has worked as the General Director of the MRDCINT, which is a not-for-profit created by the UN, World Bank and WHO. Dr. Linderman has received acclaim for producing strategies that save lives and dramatically reduce costs.

Victoria Otieno Managing Director, Alpha Bank

Victoria Otieno has a long history in the banking sector of South Sudan from the pre- and post-independence eras, and is the managing director of local bank Alpha.

Alpha Commercial Bank is a joint venture national bank in South Sudan with local and international shareholders. The bank is playing a vital role in the development of the oil and gas sector, including providing financial services to state-owned oil company Nilepet.

Emmanuel Longo DG Planning, Policy, Training and Research, Ministry of Transport

Emmanuel Longo is an engineer with over 18 years of experience in transport policy planning, rural and urban transport, road safety, regional Integration, land-use, air quality, and climate change. As Advisor at the Ministry of Transport and Director General of Planning, Policy, Training and Research, he coordinates the World Bank's Sustainable Urban Transport Management program of the Africa Transport Policy Program (SSATP) on urban transport and sustainability policy in South Sudan.

For the Government of South Sudan, he leads efforts on regional integration via the Northern Corridor Regional Integration Project (NCRIP) through development of the regional standard gauge railway, development of common policies and their subsequent harmonization, and now integration of Republic of South Sudan into the East Africa Community. Prior to that, he was a national consultant with the World Bank, USAID and an engineer
with both the UNDP and UNICEF. He was one of the consultants that developed the Republic of South Sudan’s Road Sector Development Program 2016-2020.

Mr. Longo holds a Masters Degree in Engineering from Edinburgh Napier University and an Undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from Leeds University.

Andrew Murugu Country Head, South Sudan at Stanbic Bank

Adaku Ufere Energy Practice Lead at Centurion Law Group

Adaku specializes in regulatory compliance, contract negotiation and contract administration with a specific focus on oil and gas and power. She has an extensive understanding of contractual management clauses, key contract risks and opportunities, and is able to lead project risk review processes and assessments. Adaku has an LLB from the University of Nigeria, a BL from the Nigerian Law School and an LLM in Oil and Gas from the University of Aberdeen. She is a member of the Nigerian Bar and the International Bar Association and is also a certified Chartered Arbitrator and an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (United Kingdom). Adaku provides legal advisory services to IOCs and the Government of Equatorial Guinea on matters including but not limited to all local content regulations, compliance, joint ventures and service contracts.

James Wambugu Executive Director, UAP Holdings

James Wambugu is the Group Managing Director, General Insurance for UAP Old Mutual Kenya and an Executive Director of UAP Holdings. Mr. Wambugu joined UAP in July 2003 and has been involved in the development of the Group’s risk and quality management systems, business expansion and strategy development. He previously worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Kenya and the UK, Lonrho Africa and African Lakes Corporation in the fields of audit, transaction structuring and support and risk management. Mr. Wambugu has extensive experience across many countries in Africa. He holds an MBA and Bachelor of Commerce degrees from the University of Nairobi and a diploma in Advanced Management Programme (AMP) from IESE Business School, Barcelona and Strathmore Business School, Nairobi. He is a Qualified Risk Manager (MIRM) and a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya (CPA (K)).

Kerbino Wol Agok CEO, Kass Security

John Doherty Geophysical Operations Manager, New Ventures Business, Tullow Oil

John joined the Tullow group as a geophysicist in 2005 working in the Geophysical Technology & Operations Group. He progressed to become Principal Geophysicist providing technical assistance across the exploration & development portfolio and has recently taken up the position of Geophysical Operations Manager.

John holds an MSc in petroleum geology and a PhD in seismology, his early career was focussed on using multi-physics techniques for mineral exploration and geo-engineering applications. Thereafter, John moved to CGG, a global geophysics service provider, where his focus switched back to seismic. He held a number of technical roles within R&D and seismic processing with particular focus on multiple-suppression, velocity model building and Pre-Stack Depth Migration. John has contributed to Tullow’s multi-physics approach to exploration and is closely involved in the onshore Africa exploration.

Dr. Michael Nkambo Mugerwa General Manager, Uganda Refinery Holding Company

Dr. Michael Nkambo Mugerwa is a chemical engineer, with over 30 years of professional technical and management experience in the global oil, gas and renewable energy industry. His areas of expertise include process engineering, project management, project controls, risk management, contracts, safety, oil refinery technologies, fuel cell systems, and geothermal power plants.

He holds BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Manchester, UK. His postgraduate research focused on the characterization and modeling of pore structures in oil-bearing sandstones and petrochemical catalysts.

In the recent past, he was based in Europe and North America and worked for the global engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors, Technip and Jacobs, serving the global oil, gas and petrochemical industries.

Paula Coetzee Power & Infrastructure, Standard Bank

Eng. Elizabeth A. Rogo CEO & Founder, Tsavo Oilfield Services

Over 18 years international experience in Oil & Gas (onshore & offshore) with major companies including SNC Lavalin (Canada), Nova Scotia Petroleum Directorate (Canada); BJ Services (US), Baker Hughes – Baker Oil Tools (US, Europe – Aberdeen, Netherlands, Norway, Turkey; North Africa – Tunisia & West Africa - Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Angola), and Weatherford International (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania & Mozambique). Also Geothermal projects in Kenya.

Extensive experience in Management, Engineering (including Hydraulic Fracturing), Field Operations, Project Management, Consultancy, Business Development, Sales & Marketing Manager and Logistics for Oil & Gas (onshore and offshore) and Geothermal projects.

Prior to forming TOSL in June 2017, Elizabeth was based in Nairobi, Kenya as the Regional Area Manager (EA) for Weatherford International (East Africa) as well as Country Manager (Kenya), Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique and Ethiopia.

Elizabeth’s appointment to Country and Regional management was lauded in Waterford as historic being the first women in the Sub-Sahara Africa division.

Society of Professional Engineers (SPE) Chairperson – Nairobi Section and active mentor to young professionals in the energy sector. A sought after presenter/ panelist on Local Content and Gender Diversity in the Oil & Gas industry.

Elizabeth holds a BSc. (Chemistry Minor) from Mount Saint Vincent University and a Bachelor of Engineering from Dalhousie University; both in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Lorcan Byrne Regional Safety and Security Manager, Frontier Services Group