OLA Energy Appoints Yousef Elhemmali as General Manager in Kenya

OLA Energy Kenya has announced the appointment of Dr Yousef Elhemmali as its new General Manager.

Yousef will also double up as the firm’s East Regional Business Officer, overseeing the operations of OLA Energy in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda.

He takes over from Millicent Onyonyi who has served in the same capacity since July 2019.

Prior to his appointment, Yousef served as the General Manager of OLA Energy in Sudan, a position he held since 2016.

His appointment comes at a time the firm is seeking to expand its retail network and implement initiatives to increase its overall market share in petroleum product sales.

Last year, OLA Energy Kenya commissioned a new state of the art Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) plant in Nairobi that is fully automated with superior leak detection systems to guarantee safety. With the new plant and other planned LPG infrastructure projects, OLA Energy Kenya reaffirms its commitment to clean and affordable energy.

Commenting on his appointment, he acknowledged the achievements of his predecessor, promising to build on the foundation she laid.

“I am excited to be taking over the new challenge of managing OLA Energy Kenya and I look forward to building on the great work and major milestones overseen by my predecessor Ms. Millicent Onyonyi and the great team here in Kenya,” said Yousef.

Yousef kicked off his career in the oil industry in the Zawiya Oil refinery in Libya before joining Libya Oil, now OLA Energy as the Deputy General Manager of Tunis.

In addition to that, he has also served as the General Manager of OLA Energy in Tunis, OLA Energy Morocco and OLA Energy Sudan Limited.

While at OLA Energy Morocco, he was able to steer the largest affiliate in terms of sales volume and was active in marine fuel, lubricants, benzene, diesel, kerosene and aviation fuels in the 10 airports in Morocco on a sustained growth in business profitability.

Yousef holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from Ecole Supérieure Robert de Sorbon in France, a Master’s degree in Mechanical Applications Oils on Internal Combustion Engines from the Petroleum Institute of France and a Higher Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from the Higher Institute of Industrial Technology in Tripoli, Libya.

He has an experience of over 3 decades in management roles in the oil industry in various parts of Africa.

He brings in a wealth of experience in leadership, strategy and structure in the field of fuels and lubricants sales and distribution, having spent over 30 years in management roles in the oil industry in various parts of Africa.