Adaku Ufere-Awoonor

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Adaku Ufere-Awoonor
AUA 5.jpg
Deputy Chief of Party, USAID West Africa Energy Program
CEO and Principal Consultant at DAX Consult
Personal details
Born
Adaku Ufere

(1985-07-07) 7 July 1985 (age 36)
Lagos, Nigeria
Children1
Alma materUniversity of Nigeria
Nigerian Law School
University of Aberdeen
University of California
OccupationEnergy, gender & development lawyer

Adaku Ufere-Awoonor (born July 7, 1985) is a Nigerian energy professional and an international oil and gas, gender and development lawyer.[1] She is the CEO and Principal Consultant at DAX Consult[2] as well as the current Deputy Chief of Party, USAID West Africa Energy Program.[3]

Education[]

Adaku attended Corona School Apapa and Grange School Ikeja, both in Lagos for her primary education. She proceeded first to Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls and then to Queen's College for her secondary school education. She is a graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; where she obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree (LL.B) in 2007.[4] Adaku then proceeded to the Nigerian Law School, Abuja Campus in 2008 to complete her Bachelor of Laws (B.L) programme.[4] After completing her National Youth Service, she obtained a Master of Laws degree in Oil and Gas from the University of Aberdeen.[4] Adaku has attended several executive education programs and obtained a Certification in Gender & Sexuality: Applications in Society, from the University of British Columbia, Canada, a Certification in Public Management from the University of California, Davis as a Mandela Washington Fellow, and a Certification Energy Leadership from the University of South Africa (Unisa) after completing the Young Women in African Power programme presented by the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Regional Leadership Centre for Southern Africa (RLC-SA).[5]

Career[]

Adaku's decision to go into the oil and gas industry was inspired by the appointment of Diezani Alison-Madueke as the first Nigerian female minister of Petroleum Resources in 2010.[5] As an international oil and gas lawyer and energy professional, Adaku has held several international positions, such as the Head of the Energy Practice of Centurion Law Group in Equatorial Guinea, and with General Electric as Legal Counsel GE Oil & Gas in Nigeria. She has recorded a number of landmark achievements, in South Sudan she led the team who negotiated the country's first ever Production Sharing Contract and set up the first indigenous African exploration company to operate in South Sudan.[6] In Equatorial Guinea she led teams that negotiated billion dollar investments into the country as well as drafting and implementing landmark statutes in Equatorial Guinea.

As an expert[7] in international contracts, contractual management clauses and international corporate framework, Adaku has worked with several governments, as well as international and national oil companies. Her vast experience in energy and oil and gas spans countries such as Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Cameroon, Mauritius, South Sudan, and South Africa.

In addition to rendering legal services in the oil and gas sector, Adaku also renders legal services to fight against sexual and gender-based violence, providing prevention mechanisms and supporting survivors with psychosocial services. She holds the position of the Head of Legal at STER Initiative, a Not-for-Profit organization.[8] In 2019, STER collaborated with Nigeria's National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, along with 15 non-governmental organisations, supported by the British Council, to set up Nigeria first ever Sex Offenders Registry.[9]

Adaku is currently the Deputy Chief of Party, USAID Power Africa West Africa Energy Program.[3] A USAID and Power Africa coordinated initiative helping West Africa expand supply of and access to affordable and grid-connected electricity services; through technical assistance, capacity building and transaction support.

Professional membership and association[]

Adaku is a member of several professional bodies and associations, in addition to being a certified Chartered Arbitrator and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She is also a member of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators, Nigerian Bar Association, the Women in African Power, the International Bar Association, the Institute for Energy Security and the Young Women in Energy Association.[2]

Awards and recognition[]

Adaku has won numerous awards and recognition both locally and internationally. In 2016, she was named one of the 40 under 40 Leading Lawyers in Nigeria at the Nigerian Legal Awards . She also received the Attorney of the Year award at the African Legal Awards held in South Africa in 2017.[10] Till date she is the youngest recipient of that award in Africa, as well as the first Nigerian and non-South African to win Attorney of the Year. In 2018 she was named a Mandela Washington Fellow, an initiative of the United States State Department.[4] That same year, she was named the Young African Professional of the Year by the Independent Pan-African Youth Parliament in 2018 in South Africa, and has also been recognized as a Fellow of the Institute of Energy Security, Ghana.[5] Adaku was named one of the 100 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria in 2019 and is an Obama Foundation Leader for Africa.[11][12] In 2020, Adaku was recognized as an Energy Expert by the University of Aberdeen and was a part of the University's Exception Alumni Poster Campaign to inspire current students of the school.[13]

References[]

  1. ^ BellaNaija.com (2019-05-29). "Energy, Gender & Development Attorney Adaku Ufere-Awoonor is our #BellaNaijaWCW this Week!". BellaNaija. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Sagagist.com. "Adaku Ufere-Awoonor, Energy Attorney and Founder of DAX Consult". Saga Gist - Top Source for Nigeria News. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Policycenter.ma (2019-11-15). "Adaku Ufere". Policy Center for the New South (in French). Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Global Affairs. "Adaku Abimbola Ufere". globalaffairs.ucdavis.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c SVAI.africa (2018-11-22). "Interview: Adaku Ufere-Awoonor". Shared Value Africa Initiative. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  6. ^ GlobeNewsWire.com (2017-03-06). "Oranto Launches $500 million Exploration Campaign in South Sudan". Global News Wire. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  7. ^ Globalaffairs.ucdavis.edu (2018). "UC Davis Global Affairs". globalaffairs.ucdavis.edu. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  8. ^ "standtoendrape.org". STER. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  9. ^ TheGuardian.com. "Nigeria Launches First Sex Offenders Registry". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  10. ^ Law.com. "African Legal Awards Attorney of the Year Associate Assistant Solicitor Adaku Ufere Centurion Law Group". Law.Com International. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  11. ^ Obama.org. "Obama Foundation Leader". obama.org. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  12. ^ Ufere, Adaku. "Bella Naija". bellanaija.com. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  13. ^ abdn.ac.uk. "University of Aberdeen". abdn.ac.uk.
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