The African Energy Chamber is expanding its team to mediate between the private sector and governments.
Appointed in April as the African Energy Chamber (AEC)’s executive president for the CEMAC region (comprising Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon) Leoncio Amada Nze comes from an influential Equatorial Guinean family. His father, Deputy Senate Speaker Agustin Nze Nfumu, is related to President Teodoro Obiang Nguema. Nfumu has had a rich political life, serving variously as deputy foreign minister, minister of communication and tourism, ambassador to London, and secretary-general of the ruling Partido Democratico de Guinea Ecuatorial (PDGE) until 2003.
Having run unsuccessfully to take over the leadership of UNESCO in 2017, he is now the PDGE’s deputy chairman. His son, Leoncio Amada Nze, made the most of his father’s influence to carve out his own illustrious career: until recently he was director of state industries at the oil ministry. He is also the founder of APEX Industries, the partner in Equatorial Guinea of oil services giant Subsea 7. During his four years with the ministry, he made contacts across the petroleum sector.
AEC Executive Chairman NJ Ayuk also appointed the Kenyan Elizabeth Rogo to head the chamber’s East Africa zone, comprising Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. The founder of Tsavo Oilfield Services, Rogo used to work with Weatherford International and Baker Hughes.
Created in 2016 by Ayuk, founder of the law firm Centurion Law Group, the AEC, which is headquartered in South Africa, works to bring African energy companies and governments together to promote the sector’s growth. Last year it appointed Sergio Pugliese, who is close to the ruling Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola party, as its representative in Angola
