Total appoints new Managing Director for Nigeria operations
The Board of Directors of Total Nigeria, the downstream oil & gas subsidiary of a French multinational integrated company, has announced the appointment of Samba Seye as Managing Director (MD) of its Nigeria operations.
Succeeding Imrane Barry who has been reassigned to TotalEnergies SE Headquarters in Paris, Seye’s appointment takes effect from September 1, 2021.
“We write to formally notify the investing public and the Nigerian Exchange Limited that the Board of Directors of Total Nigeria Plc has approved the appointment of Samba Seye as Managing Director of Total Nigeria Plc (the Company),” the company said in a statement signed by Bunmi Popoola-Mordi, Company Secretary (Executive General Manager).
Before his appointment, Seye served in various capacities with extensive experience in business and management, within the Total Group. According to the Wall Street Journal, he was the Chairman at Total Petroleum Ghana Ltd., Chairman at Total Côte d’Ivoire SA and Executive Vice President at Total Marketing Services SA.
Described as a thorough-bred professional with experience across several countries, Seye holds a Doctorate Degree in Engineering from the University of Sciences and Techniques of Lille, France, where he worked as an assistant lecturer from 1990 until 1993 when he joined Shell working in various capacities before joining Total Marketing and Services in 2014 as a Project Manager in the Strategy Department.
In 2015, he was appointed Deputy Executive Vice President, West Africa, a position he held until he was appointed Vice President Specialties/General Trade Total MS /Africa, in 2016. Thereafter, he was appointed Executive Vice President West Africa, Total MS /Africa, in 2017. He has been a member of the TotalEnergies SE Ethics Committee since 2019. The new MD is expected to sustain and scale the company’s performance.
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Total Nigeria reported an enormous 1,601% growth in net profit in the second quarter of 2021to N8.07 billion from a loss of N537 million in the corresponding quarter of 2020.
Meanwhile, the shareholders of Total Nigeria Plc recently announced the approval to change its name to Total Energies Marketing Nigeria Plc as it began its transition towards achieving the net-zero target by 2050.
“I hereby move that the memorandum and articles of association of the company be amended to reflect the company’s new name, Total Energies Marketing Nigeria Plc and that all necessary steps to effect a change of name of the company be taken by the board,” the company’s Chairman, Stanislas Mittelman, said.
Total said its global name change to TotalEnergies was informed by a climate change agreement at a summit held in Paris, France in 2016. Executive General Manager, Popoola-Mordi explained that the company’s name change was in line with the climate change agreement.
‘‘In 2016, there was a meeting held in Paris which brought about climate change agreement where the world sought to transform the energy system to meet the challenges of climate change,” she said at the unveiling of a new logo and name change for Total Nigeria Plc to Totalenergies Marketing Nigeria Plc which recently took place in Lagos.
According to her, Total worldwide was a very active participant at that summit. “We participated so actively because we were interested in what our world would be like tomorrow and for the betterment of all of us.”
In the last four years, Totalenergies said it has been making a lot of significant effort to incorporate climate change into all of its strategies. In May 2020, it prepared its vision to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. In September 2020, it translated that ambition into a dotted long strategy to transform Total into a broad energy company.
