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APO Group appoints Rania El Rafie as Vice President of Public Relations and Strategic Communications

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APO Group

The role is one of the biggest in African Public Relations, with APO Group’s PR team collaborating with some of the world’s most prestigious organizations as they look to develop their operations on the continent

Egalement disponible en Françaisتتوفر أيضا في العربية

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, January 17, 2024/APO Group/ — 

APO Group (www.APO-opa.com), the premier award-winning Pan-African communications consultancy and press release distribution service, is delighted to announce the appointment of Rania El Rafie as Vice President of Public Relations and Strategic Communications.

Egyptian Rania is the first candidate to be promoted to VP of Public Relations and Strategic Communications from within the company, and the youngest person ever to hold this key role. She joined APO Group as Account Director in 2020 and was promoted to Group Account Director shortly thereafter. In the last three years, she has been responsible for managing the company’s most prestigious accounts, delivering huge success for both her clients and APO Group itself.

APO Group’s VP of Public Relations and Strategic Communications is one of the most important and influential roles in the African PR industry. Rania heads up a team with unparalleled experience that operates ‘on the ground’ in Africa, reaching every country and every corner of the continent.

Rania and her team provide a gateway to the media, and are responsible for supporting some of the biggest global organizations operating in Africa today, including: FIFA, Canon, Nestlé, TikTok, Jack Ma Foundation, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Marriott, AstraZeneca, European Investment Bank, Afreximbank, Islamic Development Bank, Vertiv, NBA, Basketball Africa League, Siemens Gamesa, Siemens Energy, GITEX, KONE, Mercy Ships, MSD, Qatar African Business Forum, Western Union, and Rugby Africa.

Rania’s performance as Group Account Director made her the unanimous choice among the APO Group leadership team when the position of VP of Public Relations and Strategic Communications became available.

In her time at APO Group, she has already played a pivotal role in two award-winning campaigns for Canon Central and North Africa at the PRovoke Africa SABRE Awards – Africa’s leading Public Relations Awards. Rania was also heavily involved in further SABRE Award success thanks to her work with The Jack Ma Foundation and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

As Group Account Director, Rania helped many clients – including Canon and the NBA – achieve exceptional media attendance at events in Cairo; she delivered the overall international media hosting programme at GITEX Global in Dubai; and she was also a key moderator during the Africa Women Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) Cairo summit in 2022.

APO Group’s VP of Public Relations and Strategic Communications is one of the most important and influential roles in the African PR industry

Rania has more than 20 years of experience in Public Relations, working her way up through the ranks in a number of key roles across Africa and the Middle East.

Prior to joining APO Group, Rania was the Regional Account Director for Ketchum RAAD Middle East Dubai, managing client PR accounts and providing strategic counsel to prominent clients such as Etihad Airways, Nissan, P&G, and CNN.

She also spent five years at the world-famous J. Walter Thompson PR in Dubai, part of the global WPP group, where she managed key accounts within the consumer and financial PR sectors across the MENA region.

Rania holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the American University in Dubai (AUD). She is also a dedicated mother to two boys, Youssef and Yassin.

As she commences her new role, Rania will embark upon a personally tailored Executive Leadership Development Plan, which APO Group Founder and Chairman Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard says will help her to reach her great potential and allow her to flourish at the very highest level of African Public Relations.

“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Rania to the leadership team,” said Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard, Founder and Chairman of APO Group. “I’ve been enormously impressed with her progress since joining the company, as she has delivered for our biggest clients time and again. Her appointment was a completely unanimous decision across the management group and reflects her vast potential to propel our Public Relations division forward still further.”

“I am truly honored and grateful for the trust placed in me by our management team,” said Rania El Rafie, APO Group’s VP of Public Relations and Strategic Communications. “One of the things that I’ve always loved about APO Group is the sense of closeness and collaboration, and it is a privilege to lead such a diverse and experienced team. I look forward to building on our outstanding culture of high performance, commitment to quality, and continuous improvement. More than anything, I’m excited about the possibilities that lie ahead.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of APO Group.

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Ministers among hundreds of energy-sector leaders to attend AOW event

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Sinclair

The event kicks off with an invitation-only ministerial symposium focused on the theme of “Fostering innovation, attracting investment, and promoting sustainable growth in the oil, gas, and energy sectors”

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, October 4, 2024/APO Group/ — 

AOW: Investing in African Energy (https://AOWEnergy.com) – Africa’s leading oil, gas and energy event – has confirmed attendance for more than 80 ministers and senior officials, representing African governments, energy departments and regulators at next month’s event.

These influential stakeholders will be among the more than 1 600 senior delegates and industry leaders who will be attending the event to develop policy, share discoveries, secure investment, and shape Africa’s energy future.

The event kicks off with an invitation-only ministerial symposium focused on the theme of “Fostering innovation, attracting investment, and promoting sustainable growth in the oil, gas, and energy sectors.”

Given the recent major oil-and-gas discoveries across Africa, the energy transition and major geopolitical events, it is clear that the energy sector needs positive intervention

Among the officials and government ministers attending will be energy leaders from South Africa, Nigeria, Namibia, Cote d’Ivoire, Mozambique, DRC, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Eswatini, Uganda, CAR, Guinea Conakry, Guinea Bissau, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Gabon, Malawi, Morocco, Zanzibar, Liberia, Senegal, Congo Brazzaville and Sierra Leone.

In addition, the event will feature high-level delegations from numerous national oil companies, as well as multilateral bodies including the African Union, (AU), African Energy Commission (AFREC), African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO) and the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).

AOW will see these energy leaders networking with C-suite executives and decision-makers from more than 760 top energy companies at daily networking events, to discuss insights, forge new relationships, and negotiate major energy deals.

“We are so excited to see the calibre of delegates at this year’s AOW event,” says Chief Executive Officer of Sankofa Events, Paul Sinclair. “Given the recent major oil-and-gas discoveries across Africa, the energy transition and major geopolitical events, it is clear that the energy sector needs positive intervention. The high-powered attendance proves AOW is a key platform to enable this intervention.”

Key themes to be discussed at this year’s AOW will be sustainable upstream development; expanding gas value chains; renewables and new energies; adoption of best-in-class technologies; and access to finance.

AOW: Investing in African Energy will culminate in a special anniversary party at Groot Constantia Vineyard to celebrate 30 years of the AOW event.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of AOW: Investing in African Energy.

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Afreximbank approves US$20.8 million for Starlink Global’s cashew factory project in Lagos

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The facility is expected to promote value addition which will guarantee increased earnings to the company while also fostering the creation of about 400 new jobs

CAIRO, Egypt, October 4, 2024/APO Group/ — 

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) (www.Afreximbank.com) has approved a US$20.8 million financing facility for Nigeria-based Starlink Global & Ideal Limited to enable the company construct and operate a 30,000-metric tonne per annum cashew processing factory in Lagos.

We are delighted at this partnership which promises to deliver significant impact on employment in Nigeria

According to the facility agreement signed in on July 22, 2024, Afreximbank will provide the funds in two tranches with the first tranche of US$7.48M going toward capital expenditure for the construction of the factory and the second, totalling US$13.25M to be deployed as working capital for the operations of the factory.

The facility is expected to promote value addition which will guarantee increased earnings to the company while also fostering the creation of about 400 new jobs once the factory becomes operational. It is also expected to support about 40 small and medium-sized enterprises.

Commenting on the transaction, Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra Africa Trade and Export Development, Afreximbank, said that by supporting Starlink Global to establish a modern processing facility, Afreximbank is making it possible for Africa to add value to its agro-commodities, thereby facilitating exports and subsequent inflow of much-needed foreign exchange into the continent.

“We are delighted at this partnership which promises to deliver significant impact on employment in Nigeria. It will contribute to value creation and to the development of the local community while also improving the lots of smallholder farmers and small business suppliers that will work with Starlink across the value chain,” Mrs. Awani added.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afreximbank.

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Sonangol to Lead Decarbonized Oil & Gas (O&G) Development, Says Angolan National Oil Company (NOC) Head

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Sonangol

Participating in an on-stage interview at Angola Oil & Gas 2024, Sonangol CEO Sebastião Gaspar Martins emphasized that oil and gas remains a core focus for the national oil company

LUANDA, Angola, October 3, 2024/APO Group/ — 

Angola’s national oil company Sonangol reiterated its commitment to driving sustainable hydrocarbon development during the Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) conference this week. Speaking during an “In-Conversation with” session, Sonangol CEO Sebastião Gaspar Martins stated that the company will not abandon oil and gas, but rather advance decarbonized oil and gas development.

We are looking at opportunities in the gas sector and have identified the right partner to develop non-associated gas

By investing in upstream oil and gas production while prioritizing low-carbon projects, Sonangol aims to boost national crude output, while diversifying and decarbonizing the industry. The NOC is focusing efforts on non-associated gas development, as well as alternative energy sources such as solar.

“We are looking at opportunities in the gas sector and have identified the right partner to develop non-associated gas. Gas produced from Angola LNG will be used for the production of fertilizer and we are evaluating the utilization of gas in the south of the country, linking gas with steel industries. We also have a blue carbon project, linked to the reduction of carbon through the plantation of mangroves. We have one area in Luanda and have identified four additional areas for this,” stated Gaspar Martins.

Sonangol has undergone transformation in recent years: following the creation of the National Oil, Gas & Biofuels Agency (ANPG) in 2019, Sonangol transferred its role as national concessionaire and regulator. This transformation has aimed to make Sonangol more competitive and strengthen its capacity as an upstream operator. Concurrently, the government is partially privatizing the NOC, with privatization set to be complete in 2026. This process will enhance financial capacity, allowing Sonangol to drive new upstream projects forward.

“The transformation of Sonangol started several years ago, when we passed the regulatory, concessionaire role to the ANPG. At the time, we transferred almost 600 employees to the ANPG. After that, Sonangol underwent a restructuring program where we created five core business units from 36 different entities – starting with exploration and production. We want to go public, but we want to do it properly. So, we are currently going through all the processes to do this,” stated Gaspar Martins.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital & Power.

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