Proscovia Nabbanja appointed National Oil Company chief

The Uganda National Oil Company has appointed Proscovia Nabbanja, a geologist, as its new chief executive officer.

Ms Nabbanja took over the job in an acting capacity after the company’s first chief executive, Josephine Wapakabulo, announced she was resigning in May.

A geologist, Ms Nabbanja joined the national oil company in November 2016 from the Petroleum Directorate at the ministry of energy. She was the chief operating officer for upstream activities at UNOC before her caretaker appointment.

“The board of directors is confident that Ms Nabbanja’s appointment will propel UNOC to greater heights given her vast knowledge, drive, enthusiasm and experience in the petroleum industry,” board chairman Emmanuel Katongole said in the statement announcing her appointment.

The new chief executive’s priority is to execute UNOC’s five-year strategic plan, the statement added.

Uganda’s oil and gas sector is struggling on several fronts following a tax dispute between the government and oil companies that has impended a final investment decision on projects in the Albertine Graben and an expected $10bn in investment.

The three joint venture companies — France’s Total, China’s CNOOC and the London-listed Tullow Oil — have cut back on their operations in the country and frozen investments.

Ms Nabbanja has a Bsc in chemistry and geology from Makerere University, an Msc in Petroleum Geoscience from Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine and an MBA from Imperial College Business School. She also has a diploma in petroleum management and operations from Norway.

The Uganda National Oil Company is the statutory body mandated to manage the country’s commercial interests in the oil sector. Its mandate includes marketing the country’s share of petroleum received in kind and developing in-depth expertise in the oil and gas industry.