KEY EXPERTS.
MEET HON. DR. MATHEW OPOKU PREMPEH
Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh is the Minister for Energy of the Republic of Ghana. He is also the Member of Parliament for Manhyia South Constituency since 2009. Dr. Prempeh is a qualified medical doctor and surgeon. He studied Human Biology and Medicine at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (BSc) and a Master’s Degree in Clinical Epidemiology from the Netherlands Institute of Health Sciences (MSc). He further studied Leadership and Government at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Dr. Prempeh has worked as a Medical Doctor in Ghana and the United Kingdom. He is a Surgeon and a member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of the United Kingdom.
MEET HON. DR. MOHAMMED AMIN ADAM
Hon. Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam is a Deputy Minister of Energy (with responsibility for the petroleum sector). Before then, he was the Founder and Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP). He previously worked in other public and private organizations as - an Energy Policy Analyst at the Ministry of Energy in Ghana, Commissioner of Ghana’s Public Utilities Regulatory Commission; a former Deputy Minister of State for the Northern Region; and former Mayor of Ghana’s third city of Tamale. He was also the Africa Coordinator of extractives industries in Ibis.
Globally, he has worked extensively on extractive industries and resource management. He currently serves on two international advisory boards – the Open Contracting Partnership; and the Natural Resources and Community Review. He is a member of several global initiatives including the Thematic Network on Good Governance of Extractive and Land Resources under the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, a global initiative of the United Nations; the Executive Session on the Political Economy of Extractive Industries, convened by the Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) of Columbia University in the US; and the International Research Collaborative on Natural Resource Governance, Inequality and Human Rights, Law and Society.
In Africa, he has worked on petroleum policy and resource governance projects in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan and Kenya; advising governments and supporting parliamentary committees and CSOs. Dr. Adam recently testified on how Africa can avoid the resource curse before the United States Congress House Sub-committee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations.
In Ghana, he was a member of the Technical Committee set up by the Government of Ghana to review the Ghana Petroleum Revenue Management Act. He has also played advisory roles to a number of private sector operators in Ghana - as Chairman of Frontier Energy Africa Limited; Member of the Board of Ghana’s first private oil and gas mutual fund – the Weston Oil and Gas Fund; and Member of Zoil Oil Waste Services which is providing offshore waste management services in Ghana’s oil industry.
Dr. Adam holds a PhD. In Petroleum Economics from CEPMLP of the University of Dundee in the UK specializing in petroleum fiscal systems and contracts, fiscal policy in resource-led economies; and resource governance. He also holds an MPhil (Economics) and B.A. (Hons) Economics from the University of Cape Coast; and is a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Economists of Ghana (ICEG)
MEET MR. CHARLES DARKU
Mr. Charles Darku is a former Managing Director of Tullow Ghana (2013-2018) and former Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Upstream Petroleum Chamber (GUPC), a non-profit organization with the aim of achieving long term success of the upstream petroleum industry in Ghana.
Mr. Charles Darku started his career as an electrical engineer with the Volta River Authority, and held various senior management positions in VRA over the years. He played a pioneering role in nurturing private participation in the generation of electricity in Ghana. He was appointed Chief Executive of the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) in 2009. In his four years at the helm of GRIDCo, Mr. Darku led the team to consolidate the newly established company and took steps to improve the operation and management of the transmissions grid in Ghana and interconnections with neighboring countries .
Mr. Charles Darku is an accomplished business leader and professional engineer with over 30 years of experience in Ghana's energy sector.
MEET CONRAD ENILL
Mr. Conrad Enill is the Chairman of The National Gas Company (NGC) of Trinidad & Tobago Limited. He holds an MBA from Brunel University and Henley Management College, and a Mini MBA in Oil and Gas from the CWC School for Energy Limited, all based in London. He is also a Certified International Credit Union Development Educator (World Council of Credit Unions). Mr. Enill has also completed executive training with the Adam Smith Institute in Effective Public Awareness and Communication to promote Economic Reform; Improving the Public Expenditure Cycle from budget preparation to monitoring, and evaluation and application of Best Practices in Debt Management.
He is a past Governor of both the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and served as Chairman of the G24 sub group of the IMF. He also served as a member of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum whose members include Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago. He is a former Minister of Energy with responsibility for the regulation of the Energy Sector and former Minister in the Ministry of Finance of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago with responsibility for Finance, National Budgets and the Economy. Mr. Enill moved from leadership positions in private sector insurance and technology firms to serve in Government from 2001 to 2010. In 2011, he returned to the private sector, leading two energy service companies as Chief Operating Officer and as Group CEO of the largest financial cooperative in the Caribbean. He continues to work in Energy, Business and Financial Services. Conrad Enill is a Strategic Business Advisor on financial and energy analysis and strategic planning with a policy background at the organisational, national and international levels. He has extensive experience in joint regional and international projects with government agencies and private organizations, having served at the highest level of Government in the capacity of Cabinet Minister.
MEET DR. NII DARKO ASANTE
Dr. Asante is a Chemical Engineer with over 20 years’ experience in energy management and optimisation. He was the Technical Director of Ghana’s Energy Commission and is responsible for the development of standards, codes and regulations in the electricity and natural gas sectors. He was previously also responsible for the enforcement of energy regulations and the execution of initiatives to promote renewable energy and the efficient use of energy. Following the launch of Ghana’s Country Action Plan on Sustainable Energy for All, Dr Asante also led the Energy Commission’s activities in coordinating the refinement and implementation of the Action Plan.
Dr Asante previously lectured at the University of Ghana, in Accra, where he was part of the team that set up the Engineering Faculty, and acted as the first head of the Department of Food Process Engineering. Prior to this he was the Technology Manager of the Energy Optimisation business of Aspen Technology Inc., where he developed tools and implemented solutions for Energy Management and Optimisation at refineries, chemical and petrochemical plants all over the world.
MEET DR. BEN ASANTE
Dr. Ben Asante, CEO, Ghana National Gas Company is a world-renowned Oil and Gas engineer with more than 25 years of experience. He has worked for major Operating Companies (Nova/TransCanada Pipelines and Enron) as well as Engineering Consulting companies (Jacobs Engineering and Gulf Interstate Engineering) in Canada and the US occupying various positions including Director of Engineering and Operations.
Dr. Asante has also provided engineering services, project management, and technical support for various projects in Abu Dhabi (UAE), Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Ghana, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russia, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and USA. He has also provided consulting services to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB). He developed the Gas Infrastructure Master Plan for Ghana working with the Energy Commission.
MEET DR. SALIHU JAMARI
Dr. Salihu Jamari is currently the Managing Director of Gas & Power Investment Company Ltd, a subsidiary of The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Prior to his appointment in 2020, Dr. Jamari was the Managing Director of Nigeria Gas Company. He was also Manager, Gas Development at Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited, responsible for the day to day running of the department. He managed the Oredo Integrated Gas Handling Facility (IGHF) project, which comprises a 100MMscfd gas processing plant, an LGP plant and LPG dispensing facility and 9KM pipeline connecting the LPG plant and the LPG dispensing facility. He was also in charge of the management of Oredo-Ovade (POOC), which is to supply 100mmscfd of raw gas to Pan Ocean Oil & Gas Company Ltd gas plant to utilize a processing spare capacity.
Dr. Jamari was Assistant Chief Training Officer at Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Nigeria between Jan 1999 and Jun 2006. He taught National Diploma and High National Diploma student courses like Fluid Mechanics, Process Control, Natural Gas Processing Technology, Process Engineering Design etc. He developed the Gas Engineering Technology Curriculum and Syllabus now in use in the Institute.
Between 1993 & 1998, Dr. Jamari was a Research Fellow at Energy Commission of Nigeria, Energy Research Centre Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. He was in charge of Renewable Energy section, specifically on Biogas Technology. This is where methane gas is generated from biodegradable material by anaerobic digestion processes.
Dr. Jamari has a Doctorate Degree in Flow Assurance Engineering from Imperial College London and a Master's degree in Gas Engineering and Management from The University of Salford.
MEET MR. EMMANUEL ANYAETO
Emmanuel U. Anyaeto is the Managing Director of Integrated Gas & Energy Services, LLC. A First Class graduate in Economics and Marketing from Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri, USA with post-graduate diplomas in Natural Gas Management and Gas Turbine Engineering from Cranfield University, Bedford, UK.
He worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Nigeria as a Consultant and later joined The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited in 1999 as a Senior Business Analyst. In 2001, Emmanuel became Business Development Manager for the downstream gas distribution business of Shell in Nigeria (Shell Nigeria Gas Limited), where he facilitated over fifty (50) industrial and manufacturing companies to convert from the use of diesel for power generation to natural gas. He later became Asset Manager responsible for managing the daily operations of gas facilities including pipelines.
In 2004, he returned to Shell Upstream as the Commercial Manager for the construction and operation of the first combined cycle power plant (Afam VI 640MW) built by Shell in Nigeria, and following the commissioning of the plant, he was the Operations Manager for three (3) years. Given his expansive experience in the Gas and Power sectors, Emmanuel was appointed Shell representative to the national strategic gas aggregator called Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria (GACN). Being responsible for commercial operations of the company, he negotiated the first natural gas and funding agreement for the single biggest fertilizer train in the world built by Indorama Petrochemcial Company. He further developed the template for the commercial negotiation and sale of natual gas to the petrochemical industry. Emmanuel also led GACN’s team in the negotiation of the gas sale agreements which led to the privatization of power plants owned by the Nigerian government in 2013. He returned to Shell in 2014 as Subject Matter Expert in Gas and Power where he championed the development of a commercial structure for short-term gas sales to power, industrial and petrochemical companies.
Emmanuel retired from Shell in 2018 and currently runs a consultancy firm based in Los Angeles, California, focusing on gas and energy optimization across Africa. He believes that poor energy utilization (natural gas and electricity) is the major contributor of poverty across Africa.
