25 March - 27 March
Hilton Mauritius Resort and Spa, Mauritius
Maritime Week Africa, the longest-running and most popular bunkering event on the African continent, is, for the first time in its 16-year history, coming to the beautiful island nation of Mauritius. The week will include a major international conference, a selection of shipping, bunkering and alternative fuels training courses, an exclusive tour of Port Louis – the principal port of Mauritius – and some spectacular networking opportunities.
MWAF25 Programme
If you believe you could make a positive contribution to the conference or training programmes, please email Llewellyn Bankes-Hughes at [email protected] to start the discussion.
Programme details are updated regularly and are subject to change as new speakers are confirmed and themes developed.
Conference Registration & Exhibition Opens
This session, featuring political and industry leaders, will demonstrate the strategic and commercial importance of Mauritius and its growing influence in the Indian Ocean and the African continent. It will also examine the roles played by Africa and Mauritius in the Blue Economy.
Chairman’s Introduction
Llewellyn Bankes-Hughes, CEO, ship.energy
Keynote Address: Africa and the Blue Economy
Ambassador Nancy Karigithu, Special Envoy & Advisor for Maritime and Blue Economy, Executive Office of the President of Kenya
Keynote
Aruna Bunwaree Ramsaha, Ag. Director, General, Mauritius Port Authority
Keynote
Hon. Gilles Fabrice David, Junior Minister, Ministry of Agro-Industry, Food Security, Blue Economy and Fisheries
Keynote
Hon. Minister Dr Arvin Boolell, GOSK, Minister of Agro-Industry, Food Security, Blue Economy and Fisheries
CEO & Founder
ship.energy
Joint CEO, Shipping Innovation | Director, Maritime UK
Llewellyn began his career in the oil industry in 1980, working both as a journalist and as oil broker in London and New York, with Petroleum Argus, Eperon Petroleum, Albion Oil, Petroleum Intelligence Weekly and OPEC Listener, before joining MRC Business Information Group in Oxford – which later became Lloyd’s List Intelligence after MRC’s acquisition by Informa – where he rose to Managing Director before leaving in May 2003 to establish Petrospot Ltd.
He is a Founding Member of the International Bunker Industry Association, which he helped create in 1993 and has organised conferences, seminars, training courses and multiple other events in 35 countries around the world and attended events as a journalist or conference speaker in a further dozen countries.
Llewellyn is co-creator, co-founder and co-owner of the biennial London International Shipping Week, whose first edition took place in September 2013 and has become one of the largest maritime events in the world.
Llewellyn was born in Abergavenny, Wales, in 1957 and lives in Oxfordshire.
Special Envoy & Advisor
Maritime and Blue Economy
The Oceans & Blue Economy Office (Executive Office of the President of Kenya)
Mrs. Karigithu is Kenya’s Special Envoy and Advisor for Maritime and Blue Economy under the Office of the President. With 39 years of experience – 35 in the maritime sector—she established the State Department for Shipping and Maritime Affairs, serving as its first Principal Secretary.
She holds a law degree from the University of Nairobi and a master’s in international maritime law from IMO-IMLI, Malta. She was the first Director General of the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) and served three terms as Chair of the IMO Technical Cooperation Committee. She is a Board Member of IMO-IMLI and previously served on the World Maritime University’s Board of Governors.
Between 2004 and 2005, she worked as a Maritime Transport Expert for the African Union, advising governments on maritime administration. A strong advocate for gender diversity, she led the establishment of WOMESA, bringing together 24 countries.
Her contributions have earned her multiple accolades, including the Global CEO Lifetime Achievement Award (2018), African Union Woman of the Year, and an Honorary Fellowship from the World Maritime University (2019).
In February 2024, she was appointed Sea Ambassador – Kenya by ISWAN for her advocacy on seafarers’ welfare.
Ag. Director, General
Mauritius Port Authority
Aruna Bunwaree Ramsaha is currently the Ag. Director-General of the Mauritius Ports Authority (MPA).
She is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and also holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA).
Reckoning more than 25 years experience in the Port, she has been working on various port projects including port tariffication, procurement of assets, investment financing, concessions, port legislation and digitalisation.
She has been a speaker at several international conferences/forums. She is also Member of the Board of the Port Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa (PMAESA) and sits on the Board of Directors of several local Port related organisations.
She is also a founder member of the Association for Women in the Maritime Sector in Eastern and Southern Africa (WOMESA).
Grand Officer of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean (GOSK)
Minister of Agro-Industry, Food Security, Blue Economy and Fisheries
Professional experience:
Academic background:
This session will survey the geopolitical landscape that is driving global and regional trade, looking at the impact of changing shipping patterns on Mauritius and other Indian Ocean and African markets. It will look at global and regional regulation, energy supply, and fuel quality issues, and at how digitalisation is driving change in the global bunkering sector.
Moderator
Llewellyn Bankes-Hughes, CEO, ship.energy
Shipping and energy overview
Dr Dola Oluteye, Senior Research Fellow in Energy and Transport Policy, UCL Energy Institute
Environmental Regulation
Ambrish Bansal, Senior Vice President – Business Advisory & Consulting, Lloyd’s Register
Digitalisation in bunkering
Kenneth Dam, Global Head of Bunkering, TFG Marine
Energy Transition
Brent Nartey, Managing Director, Engen Ghana Ltd
Panel Discussion and Q&A
CEO & Founder
ship.energy
Joint CEO, Shipping Innovation | Director, Maritime UK
Llewellyn began his career in the oil industry in 1980, working both as a journalist and as oil broker in London and New York, with Petroleum Argus, Eperon Petroleum, Albion Oil, Petroleum Intelligence Weekly and OPEC Listener, before joining MRC Business Information Group in Oxford – which later became Lloyd’s List Intelligence after MRC’s acquisition by Informa – where he rose to Managing Director before leaving in May 2003 to establish Petrospot Ltd.
He is a Founding Member of the International Bunker Industry Association, which he helped create in 1993 and has organised conferences, seminars, training courses and multiple other events in 35 countries around the world and attended events as a journalist or conference speaker in a further dozen countries.
Llewellyn is co-creator, co-founder and co-owner of the biennial London International Shipping Week, whose first edition took place in September 2013 and has become one of the largest maritime events in the world.
Llewellyn was born in Abergavenny, Wales, in 1957 and lives in Oxfordshire.
Senior Research Fellow in Energy and Transport Policy
UCL Energy Institute
Dola is an engineer and a University College PhD scholar in environmental design and engineering, with over 25 years of experience in both public and private sectors. Throughout her career, she has successfully led sustainability and environmental infrastructure programs totalling over $100 million.
Dola’s passion for climate action has driven her to lead several environmental initiatives, most notably the LEAP Project, where she serves as Principal Investigator in her Senior Researcher role at UCL’s Energy Institute. The project supports African states at the United Nations (UN) International Maritime Organization (IMO) in their efforts to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping.
Her current focus is on Just Transition in Shipping Decarbonisation, ensuring no African country is left behind in the global push for sustainability. Dola is also a proud mother of two budding professionals in robotics engineering and economics, who both share her commitment to environmental sustainability.
Senior Vice President - Business Advisory & Consulting
Lloyd’s Register
Ambrish Bansal is a seasoned strategy and business transformation leader with over 19 years of experience spanning consulting and industry. He has worked with top-tier organizations, including KPMG, Accenture Strategy, and Reliance Industries, driving strategic initiatives and large-scale transformations.
With deep expertise across the energy value chain – upstream, midstream, and downstream- as well as the maritime industry, Ambrish has successfully led high-impact mandates across five continents. His core competencies include sustainability, ESG advisory, program management, and business transformation.
Currently, Ambrish serves as Senior Vice President at Lloyd’s Register, where he leads management consulting and ESG advisory services globally. He also leads Advisory services for South West Asia and Africa region.
He holds an MBA in Sustainability Management from SUMAS, Switzerland, and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) from PMI, USA.
Executive Director and Global Head of Bunkering
TFG Marine
Kenneth Dam joined Trafigura’s fuel oil team in 2017 and in May 2019 became Co-Head of its newly formed bunkering team. In 2020, Kenneth was appointed Global Head of Bunkering for TFG Marine, a joint venture created between Trafigura and ship owning companies Frontline and Golden Ocean to supply quality marine fuels to ship owners at global strategic bunkering hubs.
Before joining Trafigura, from 2011 to 2016, Kenneth worked for Monjasa and played a key role in developing its West Africa bunkering operations. Before entering the marine fuel supply and shipping industry, Kenneth was a financial advisor for leading Danish financial services company Nykredit.
TFG Marine is a leading international marine fuel supply and procurement joint venture between physical commodity trading company Trafigura Group Pte and ship owning companies Frontline Ltd and Golden Ocean Group Ltd. Formed in 2020, the company provides modern, simplified and transparent services that bridge every stage of the bunkering process for its customers, supplying over 10 million metric tonnes of marine fuels per annum across 35 strategic bunkering hub locations globally.
CEO
Misa Energy Ghana Ltd
Brent Nartey is a strategic and forward-thinking executive with nearly two decades of leadership experience across West Africa’s energy and maritime sectors. As CEO of MISA Energy Ghana Ltd, he successfully led the organization’s transformation from Engen Ghana Ltd into a distinctly Ghanaian-owned brand defined by operational excellence, customer-driven performance, and a renewed African identity.
Renowned for his decisive leadership and commitment to innovation, Brent consistently drives organizational growth, strengthens governance structures, and forges impactful partnerships across the energy value chain. He has contributed significantly to industry development through policy engagement and board service, including his tenure on the Board of the Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC).
He currently serves as a Trustee of the NBC Ghana Fund and as Executive Director of Mocoh Ghana Ltd. His leadership has earned multiple recognitions, including Young CEO of the Year (2022), Leadership Excellence Awards (2023 & 2024), and the Global Recognition Award – Industry Change Maker (2025). Brent is a Chartered Accountant and Certified Business Analyst.
Pomme D’amour Restaurant, Hilton Mauritius Resort & Spa
This session will focus on the bunkering sector in Mauritius, which benefitted as ships diverted from the Suez Canal to sail around the Cape of Good Hope, lifting fuel along the way. Now one of the fastest growing markets in the region, with an increasing number of physical suppliers and government ambitions to triple bunker volumes in the near future, this session will take a hard look into what makes this market tick. It will also look at India and Sri Lanka
Moderator
Llewellyn Bankes-Hughes, CEO, ship.energy
The Port
Bussunth Kumar Rughooputh, Manager, Port Safety & Environment, Mauritius Ports Authority
The Flag, Port and Coastal Issues
Capt. Asiva Coopen, Director of Shipping, Ministry of Agro-Industry, Food Security, Blue Economy and Fisheries
A Legal Perspective
Nivedita Hosanee, Consultant, Appleby
The Bunker Supplier Perspective
Sharma Domun, Marine and Aviation Manager, Vivo Energy
Ambitions for Mauritius
Seewraj Nundlall, Director, Economic Development Board Mauritius
India and Sri Lanka
Sarad Kumar Baranwal, Managing Director, IndianOil (Mauritius) Ltd
Panel Discussion and Q&A
CEO & Founder
ship.energy
Joint CEO, Shipping Innovation | Director, Maritime UK
Llewellyn began his career in the oil industry in 1980, working both as a journalist and as oil broker in London and New York, with Petroleum Argus, Eperon Petroleum, Albion Oil, Petroleum Intelligence Weekly and OPEC Listener, before joining MRC Business Information Group in Oxford – which later became Lloyd’s List Intelligence after MRC’s acquisition by Informa – where he rose to Managing Director before leaving in May 2003 to establish Petrospot Ltd.
He is a Founding Member of the International Bunker Industry Association, which he helped create in 1993 and has organised conferences, seminars, training courses and multiple other events in 35 countries around the world and attended events as a journalist or conference speaker in a further dozen countries.
Llewellyn is co-creator, co-founder and co-owner of the biennial London International Shipping Week, whose first edition took place in September 2013 and has become one of the largest maritime events in the world.
Llewellyn was born in Abergavenny, Wales, in 1957 and lives in Oxfordshire.
Director of Shipping
Ministry of Agro-Industry, Food Security, Blue Economy and Fisheries
Capt. Asiva Coopen, presently Director of Shipping, Mauritius has 40 years of experience in the maritime field and is a well-known figure both locally and internationally within the maritime cluster.
After his seafaring career, he has, for the past 26 years, served in various capacities within the Ministry responsible for shipping matters and has also been called from time to time by the International Maritime Organization as a Lead IMSAS Auditor or as resource person for capacity building. He also forms part of IMO Working Groups from time to time.
Capt. Coopen holds a British Certificate of Competency as Master Mariner Class 1 as well as an array of academic qualifications, including an MSc in Public Administration, Diploma in Transport, Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration. He has been trained as Training the Trainer in STCW. Has also been trained with the prestigious Marine Accident Investigation Branch, (MAIB) as Marine Accident Investigator. Capt. Coopen was the main casualty investigator in the MV Wakashio grounding and worked together with the Panama Maritime Authority as well as the Japan Transport Safety Board.
He has also been a part time lecturer at the Mauritius Maritime Training Academy as well as the University of Mauritius lecturing in Seamanship, Navigation, Maritime Security, safety and port logistics.
Capt. Coopen has contributed into several presentations at both local and international venues in the maritime field. One of the most striking was on the sinking of the MV Derbyshire at the Maritime Safety Management Programme, SSPA, Sweden.
A sought-after keynote speaker, Capt. Coopen addresses local and regional conferences on Maritime safety, security and protection of the Marine environment.
Capt. Asiva Coopen is also a keen practitioner of Martial arts and holds black belt in several karate styles. He is a trainer in martial arts at various locations locally and is also an international judge in karate.
Marine and Aviation Manager
Vivo Energy
Sharma Domun holds a BSc (Hons) in Electronics and Science and an MBA in Leadership and Innovation. With over 13 years of experience in the petroleum industry—nearly 12 of which have been dedicated to LPG—Sharma has built a strong track record in the sector.
He has led the LPG team in Mauritius, worked in Côte d’Ivoire, and most recently held the position of LPG Business Development Manager – Africa. In November 2024, he took on a new challenge, transitioning to the Marine and Aviation business in Mauritius, where he currently leads the operation.
Consultant
Appleby
Nivedita has extensive working experience in the maritime sector, both in the Government and the private sector. She is a maritime law jurist specialised in an array of shipping business related matters, including, ship registration, ship finance, handling of maritime claims, assisting ship owners and operators in the certification under ISM Code and the Maritime Labour Convention, commercial and technical ship management, and provision of consultancy services to meet the economic substance requirement.
Prior to joining Appleby, Nivedita was the Registrar of Ships with the Government of Mauritius and was also responsible for the drafting of domestic maritime legislation. After leaving the public sector, through her own company, she was providing technical and commercial ship management services to ship owners/operators and management companies based in multiple jurisdictions.
WORK HIGHLIGHTS
Nivedita holds both an LL.M and an M. Jur. from the International Maritime Law Institute of Malta. She also holds an Executive MBA and is an Alumni of the United Nations Nippon Foundation Fellowship programme. She has been trained at the United Nations Department of the Law of the Sea (DOALOS) on ocean governance and the implementation of international maritime Conventions as well as at the International Training Centre of the ILO on compliance with international maritime labour standards.
Director
Economic Development Board Mauritius
Seewraj brings more than two decade-plus of experience and exposure in the full spectrum investment promotion, investment facilitation, investment aftercare, trade/export promotion, policy formulation and business development. He has been very active in promoting Mauritius as an attractive investment destination in various markets worldwide including India, China, South Africa, Malaysia, Germany, France. He has successfully contributed in project implementation in different sectors of the Mauritian economy including manufacturing, agriculture / agro-industry, financial services, IT, logistics, film industry, etc.
Seewraj was posted in India as Economic Counsellor at the Mauritius High Commission in Delhi, and at the Consulate of the Republic of Mauritius in Mumbai during the last 8 years. He had the responsibility of the Indian market for attracting investment from India to Mauritius and Africa.
After returning to Mauritius in February 2024, Seewraj is Director at Economic Development Board Mauritius.
He is responsible for the portfolio of Agriculture, Energy and Ocean Economy.
Seewraj holds a BComm from University of Durban Westville, South Africa and an MBA from University of Mauritius.
Managing Director
IndianOil (Mauritius) Ltd
Mr. Sarad Kumar Baranwal is an Electrical Engineering graduate from premiere institute Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and holds post graduate degree in business management (Marketing and Finance) from another reputed institute MDI, Gurgaon. He has joined IOML on 29th July 2022 as Managing Director.
Mr. Baranwal joined Indian Oil (IOCL), the parent company of IOML in 1995. He advanced through various roles in Operations, Sales (B2C & B2B) and Lubricants business at IOCL. Before joining at IOML, he held multiple leadership positions at various business verticals and geographies in India.
In 2020, Mr. Baranwal was appointment as the head of lubricants business in Central part of India (MP and Chhattisgarh). Under his leadership, lubricants business has grown in all market segments in a very competitive market scenario and SERVO brand maintained its market leadership. His multiple customer centric initiatives have resulted in immense value creation for the customers along with huge forex saving.
From 2012 to 2020, Mr. Baranwal as Divisional Retail Head for three very important territories of India (Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Jalandhar), took many industry leading initiatives and spearheaded the rapid expansion of retail footprint, leading to immense volume and market share growth for the company.
His focus area has been adoption of technology and creating unique value propositions for the customers so as to ensure create a memorable experience for motorists. One such Retail outlet commissioned under his leadership at Mumbai-Pune Expressway has become benchmark for the industry.
Mr. Baranwal has proven track record of leading diverse teams for achieving challenging goals and he believes in creating a win-win scenario for every stakeholder.
Le Lodge, Royal Saint Louis, Les Pailles (Bus transfer available from Hilton Mauritius)
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