- President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed Ms. Olu Verheijen as his adviser on the Energy sector, as part of recent appointments in key sectors of the economy.
- With nearly 20 years of experience, Ms Verheijen brings extensive knowledge and expertise in the oil, gas, power, and renewable energy sectors in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Her previous roles include serving as a Deal Lead at Shell, where she advised on gas commercialization and participated in multi-billion-dollar mergers and acquisitions transactions. She currently leads Latimer Energy, a consultancy firm specializing in energy sector investment advice.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently appointed some special advisers for key sectors of the economy. One of these appointees is Ms Olu Verheijen, who has been named the president’s adviser on the Energy sector.
With nearly 20 years of experience in the field, she brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise that encompasses the oil, gas, power, and renewable energy sectors in sub-Saharan Africa.
Prior to her current role, Ms Verheijen served as a Deal Lead at Shell, where she provided advice on gas commercialization and participated in mergers and acquisitions transactions totalling over $5 billion. Additionally, she held a position on the governing Board of a Shell upstream joint venture, demonstrating her involvement in high-level decision-making within the industry.
Currently, Ms Verheijen holds the position of Founder and Managing Director at Latimer Energy, a commercial consultancy firm that specializes in advising clients on investment decisions in the energy sector. Through Latimer Energy, she offers a range of services, including commercial negotiations, portfolio value optimization, and opportunity screening.
Overall, Ms Verheijen’s appointment as the president’s adviser on the Energy sector seems to be well-deserved, given her extensive experience and track record in the industry. Her diverse background and expertise in various energy sectors make her an asset in formulating strategic policies and driving sustainable economic growth in the energy sector.
Career
Her career so far has been marked by remarkable achievements and diverse roles. From 2006 to 2017, spanning 11 years, she held various high-powered positions at Shell, where she consistently delivered exceptional results. During this period, she excelled in roles such as Deal Lead, Business Opportunity Manager, Commercial Lead, Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Manager, and Commercial Finance Advisor.
As a Deal Lead, she led successful commercial negotiations on multi-billion-dollar M&A transactions, securing additional post-deal revenue from oil and gas sales, transportation, and storage. She also played a pivotal role in negotiating the financial structures necessary for the formulation of the Nigerian Gas Master Plan policy framework, with the aim of expanding domestic gas utilization.
In addition, she spearheaded the development and execution of value-optimization and monetization strategies for large-scale offshore gas capital projects, contributing to their successful implementation. Furthermore, she oversaw the assessment of new business opportunities, unlocking portfolio value, and establishing venture governance.
Prior to her tenure at Shell, she worked as a Senior Public Finance Associate at Moody’s Investors Service, where she gained valuable expertise in the financial sector. Additionally, she served as a non-Executive Director at Daystar Power Group, a leading provider of hybrid power solutions in West African markets.
She also acted as a Partner and early-stage investor at Persistent, an investment firm based in Nairobi, focusing on distributed renewables companies across Africa. Ms Verheijen holds prominent positions outside of her core roles as well.
She serves as an Advisory Council Member of the US Millennium Challenge Corporation and is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Energy for Growth Hub. Furthermore, she is the Founder and CEO of the BFA Foundation, an organization that funds skills acquisition scholarships for high-achieving, low-income individuals, enabling them to pursue career advancement opportunities in high-growth sectors, including the energy industry.
Education
Between 2003 and 2005, Ms Verheijen pursued her higher education at the prestigious Harvard Kennedy School, where she obtained a master’s degree in public policy, with a focus on Financial Markets Analysis, Business, and Government Policy. This academic achievement further solidified her understanding of the intricate dynamics between economics, politics, and policymaking.
Earlier in her educational journey, she attended Long Island University from 1995 to 1999, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science. This foundational education equipped her with a broad understanding of economic principles and political systems, providing a strong basis for her subsequent professional endeavours.
By combining her academic accomplishments with her extensive practical experience in the energy sector, Ms Verheijen possesses a comprehensive skill set that enables her to navigate complex economic and policy landscapes. Her educational background, coupled with her expertise in the energy industry, positions her as an asset in shaping effective policies and driving sustainable economic growth in the energy sector.
Based on this appointment, it seems like the government is determined to go all-in on this “autogas” policy disaster that’s just waiting to unfold. But let’s see if we are truly to take two steps forward in eliminating the fuel subsidy from the Nigerian energy markets, and one step back with the imposition of a flawed CNG vehicle fuel policy to appease the oil and gas lobby.
Interesting POV. Can you expatiate on your reasons for asserting that the CNG policy is headed for failure? Just for my own knowledge and musing.
This people think that Harvard Business School has any solution to Nigerian problems. They come here to speak English and do the bidding of those who don’t want anything good out of Nigeria and Africa. No big deal about petroleum industry. If anybody believes she will help us increase crude sales, they’re in for shocker. Properly privatise NNPC. Get the refineries working. Put pipeline to supply fuel to the whole Africa and get paid in Nigeria. Let NNPC get distribution licence in all willing African countries. And we would have created the largest market for our refined petroleum products. We don’t need to beg the West for anything.
This sounds great enuesike. I wonder if privatising NNPC is the best. But if it entails privatising the refineries, then I think it’s the best route to follow. So much sunk into maintaining refineries running into trillions naira in the past 13 years. That alone needs probing before privatisation. The crude pipelnes across Africa is a wonderful idea. I wonder why we never thought about it. Buhari just did one to his homeland Niger.
Good to see a working President in Naija. Young lady, your appointment is a breath of fresh air. Trust you will take it quite seriously, surely the people of Nigeria deserve so much expertise and corruption will not compromise all such expert works. Good luck Nigeria.
I wish privatization is solution to Nigeria industries problem but judging from sectors that have been privatized it is not. The Ajaokuta and Delta Steel companies give testament to this.
Nigeria enact policies that can never let industries thrive. The steel mills sold for over 14 years now were only stripped bare and parts shipped out of Nigeria by the Indians. Thousands of jobs and development opportunities lost. So did payee taxes go..
Now the refineries have been left to rot and everybody is shouting hoarse of inefficiency. Whose inefficiency? Once someone gets elected or appointed into office, he sees these enterprises as his kitchen domain where he must poach and/or fill every position with his cronies.
Let me go back to refineries. You can not let such industry stay nonfunctional for long periods and assume you can do table scoping of turnaround maintenance after years of redundancy.. All valves, seals must be brought out serviced to free caked lubricants. For weldolet valves the process is more demanding. All furnaces must be retooled. All pipes and tanks must must be sandblasted and pressure tested. All belts and many more must be replaced.
Another major hindrance is the prices of things in Nigeria change per second per second. The million naira in the morning may not be worth hundred thousand by evening due to volatility in the currency.
In taking decisions on selling off, think of loss of jobs, national development and security. Should we use a sledge hammer on everything as is the norm in this country. Should our greed to acquire what may not have the competence to run be the consideration? Put everything in perspective before creating even bigger problems.
Uzo Onyedum is and engineer and Safety professional of over 40 years industry experience
Why are you this negative??
You are so pessimistic!!
Well said my brother. Simple, pragmatic measures, yet our leaders tend to make the solutions to our myriad of oroblems seem like rocket science. That is the smokescreen for covering up their endless massive corruption and other anti-people and anti-development activities.
Privatisation of the refineries is long overdue but my fear is that the bidding process will not be transparent and objective as in the past exercises. Our gluttonous leaders will seek to corner these crucial national assets to themselves.
These so-called international experts will end up dancing to the tunes of their political masters because of the way our governments operate.
How can somebody graduate since 1999 and her picture here is looking like that of a Jambite. I hope she has all the skill set sha. Her resume is good, I hope she delivers. Best of luck madam!
Bringing a new blood to enhance the position of crude oil and oil sector in Nigeria is a laudable concept. But, first thing first. Let NNPC be privatized and managed by competent Profesionales. What the new administration should do is soliciting for license from African countries to market our refined crude oil. Nigeria does not need any European or foreign nationals to market our crude oil. Coincidentally, the Dangote Oil Refinery has been commissioned and the product should be available in large quantity. The refinery will serve as a powerful source of preserving our foreign exchange which in turn will help to consolidate the naira. Let us use our neighbours to build a very strong economy in Africa. Nigeria has the manpower and the natural resources to lead Africa south of the Sahara. Let us utilize the available resources maximally to the benefit of our nation.
I buy the idea of channeling pipelines through willing African countries to aid supply and distribution through the continent.
We don’t need calling any foreign body to come market our oil for us.
No one will built our nation for us. I love sound education but let’s reduce this priority we place on people with foreign education.
Our love for anything foreign is self destroying. We will be certainly out to make Nigeria Work when we start giving attention to our schools so we will have our products valued by other countries too.
I never heard of any Nation advertising our schools in their appointments to there citizens. I schooled in Europe and never met any foreign praised for schooling in Nigeria hence getting appointed by his government.
We must value the products of our institutions and if not what we want, upgrade the system or revamp it entirety if we really want to move forward.
Wonder’s never end, that was the mistakes our government keep doing since. Just appointing an economist as Adviser in Energy Sector it’s totally wrong.
There is nothing wrong in having an overseas educated Nigerian come work for our country in an area as important and as sensitive as the oil sector The sector has been under the monopolistic control of a certain clique. If the solution to unlocking the nation’s revenue potential in the oil sector, was simply the marketing of our crude oil to other African countries, why was this not thought of nor implemented since? The truth is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in appointing Mrs. Verheijen is saddling somebody outside of the infamous clique, that has for years been holding the entire nation to ransome. Our nation has never benefitted from the windfalls that occur in the oil sector globally from crude oil price increases, due to this strangulating cabals insistence that only a few should be partake of the largese of the sector. I wish Ms. Olu Verheijen all the best in her new role as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Energy adviser and look forward to her bringing a breath of fresh air to the sector. I pray that she is bold to utilize her retinue of international contacts to unearth the fortunes inherent in the oil sector for Nigeria.
Personally for my opinion, this CV plus core competence area not strong enough for this position.
Nigeria is blessed with a plethora of professionals home and the Dispora having direct hands on experience , academic background. career and expertise in the energy sector. Nigeria situation requires someone with a core competence in the energy sector, preferably with a science background conversant with the generation distribution and diversification example into Gas energy presently on going.
A Personality like the Minister during GEJ, who clashed with the political godfathers of Nigeria then and next thing we heard was that, he was floating his own company to bid for tenders. Professor Nnaji or so. For my opinion, that man was clearly taking Nigeria somewhere. Our energy sector is in an emergency state and needs the best hands to take us out of the woods.
What Tinubu just did, can be likened to a hospital management asking their 1st class Accountant to go into the theater and carry out a CS on a pregnant woman. Simply because, Mr. Accountant works in the hospital. That you worked in the Oil snd Gas industry with a degree in economics from Harvard University doesn’t make you qualified or amongst the best for this position.
Our leaders should learn to separate Nigeria business from their personal family. aquintances , political godfathers gratification and/or side Chic things