Africa Oil & Gas: New Boss for Engie Africa

French energy concern Engie has appointed Yoven Moorooven as CEO of its Africa business unit as of April 15. He succeeds Bruno Bensasson who is leaving the company, the company said March 30.

Moorooven is from Mauritius and holds a master’s degree in econometrics and a master’s degree in banking, finance and commodities. His career at Engie started in 2003 at Gaselys, the now-dissolved joint venture between Societe Generale and Gaz de France. After three years he embarked on a ten-year spell in investment banking, developing energy market divisions or running energy trading.

In 2013 he joined what had by then become Engie. Until 2016, he was head of the international division within the global energy management business unit, responsible for the development of all new energy market activities, and more specifically biomass.

Engie Africa has 2.9 GW of thermal or renewable generation capacity operating or under construction and its turnover in 2016 was was $334mn ($412mn). Engie says a major driver for the continent’s economic growth will be increasing the availability of various forms of energy: at present, three quarters of the population has inadequate access.