Adaku Ufere-Awoonor

Non-Executive Member

Adaku is an international oil and gas lawyer; managing legal teams across Africa and directly developing and managing strategic partnerships worldwide. Adaku has extensive experience working with ministries, governments, IOCs and NOCs globally. Her expertise includes:

PSC/PSA negotiations; negotiating farm-ins with major IOCs; legal framework and contract assessments; facilitating legal and fiscal frameworks for major billion-dollar energy projects in Africa; creating and assisting in the implementation of contract management systems for government regulators and cross-border negotiations. Adaku has an LLB from the University of Nigeria, a BL from the Nigerian Law School, and an LLM in Oil and Gas from the University of Aberdeen and a Fellowship in Public Management from the University of California, Davis. She is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, the International Bar Association, the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators, and the Young Women in Energy Association.

She is also a certified Chartered Arbitrator and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She was named one of the 40 Under 40 Leading Lawyers in Nigeria 2016, she won Attorney of the Year at the African Legal Awards in 2017, she was named the Young African Professional of the Year by the Independent Pan-African Youth Parliament in 2018 and she was named a Mandela Washington Fellow for 2018 by the US Department of State.

Adaku is passionate about girls’ education, gender equality, women empowerment, advancing women in leadership positions and eliminating gender-based violence.