Ex-Shell Nigeria Chief, Three Others Join Renaissance Board
Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited has appointed former Shell Nigeria chief Osagie Okunbor and three other industry leaders to its board of directors.
The other appointees are financial services professional Taba Peterside, upstream petroleum executive Beatrice Spaine and petroleum geologist Tajuddeen Umar.
Renaissance said on Tuesday that the new directors would bring extensive experience, strategic insight and leadership to its ambition of building a leading African energy company that creates sustainable value for people, communities and the country.
Okunbor has nearly four decades of experience at Shell and previously served as managing director of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) and country chair of Shell Companies in Nigeria.
During his tenure, he led several strategic initiatives, including SPDC’s divestment and efforts to increase Nigerian participation across the oil and gas value chain.
He has also served as vice-chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group and received national and international recognition for his contributions to leadership, corporate governance and the energy industry.
Umar, a petroleum geologist, has about 40 years of experience spanning technical, managerial and executive positions in the public and private sectors.
He previously served as executive chairman of the Nigeria–São Tomé and Príncipe Joint Development Authority, while also holding the position of executive director for monitoring and inspections.
He served three terms on the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation between 2016 and 2023. He is also a director of Waltersmith Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited and works as an independent oil and gas consultant.
Spaine brings more than 30 years of experience in the upstream petroleum industry, covering onshore, shallow-water and deepwater assets.
Her expertise includes subsurface engineering, auditing, business strategy, planning and value assurance. She previously served on the boards of Shell entities in Nigeria, including Shell’s closed pension fund administrator.
Spaine has also led the development of major deepwater projects in Nigeria and overseen business planning and technology strategy across sub-Saharan Africa. She is a chemical engineer with executive education from IMD Lausanne and Shell academies.
Peterside has more than 35 years of experience in banking, capital markets, financial regulation, research and development.
As head of listings at the Nigerian Exchange, she helped facilitate the listing of several major companies. She has also held senior roles at Stanbic IBTC, the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation and the International Finance Corporation.
She is the founder and chief executive of Waveline Growth Partners, a microfinance lender. She has served on several private-sector and non-governmental organisation boards and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Directors Nigeria.
Renaissance congratulated the four directors and expressed confidence that their expertise would support the company’s growth and long-term strategy.
