BOARD OF DIRECTORS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Executive Directors
Managing Director,
Chief Executive Officer
MR. STEFANO MARANI
BSc Actuarial Science, BSc Hons in Advanced Mathematics of Finance
Stefano is the Chief Executive Officer of Renergen Limited (“Renergen”), a dual listed helium and Natural gas company with substantial gas reserves in the Free State of South Africa (the “Gas Fields”). He was part of the team which acquired the Gas Fields from Molopo Energy Limited in April 2013, and was instrumental in taking the Gas Fields from a stranded gas asset into production with funding from the US government and an Initial Public Offering on the Australian Securities Exchange. Along with Nick Mitchell, they pioneered the use of natural gas in heavy duty vehicles in South Africa to help decarbonise the South African economy which ultimately lead to a joint-venture with Total South Africa Proprietary Limited, and he pioneered Cryo-VaccTM to help in the global rollout of vaccines in the fight against COVID-19.
Stefano has significant experience in the areas of structured finance and advisory. After completing his formative training with Deutsche Bank, Stefano was recruited by Morgan Stanley in London, where he was ultimately charged with building their sub-Saharan African fixed income capital markets business before leaving banking to start his own financial services firm.
Date appointed to Board: 20 Nov 2014
Executive Director,
Chief Operating Officer
MR. NICK MITCHELL
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) A+ Certified
Nick is an experienced Director with a demonstrated history of working in the energy industry. Specialising in the South African oil and gas sector and focused on early-stage company development. He is the current Chief Operating Officer for Renergen, who holds the only onshore Petroleum Production Right in South Africa through their 100% owned subsidiary Tetra4. Together with his partners, Nick acquired Tetra4 in 2013 and since then have developed the asset from what was once considered a stranded gas asset into a potential world-class helium and natural gas reserve. He is strong in operations, strategy and risk management. Nick currently serves as the Chairman of the Onshore Petroleum Association of South Africa (ONPASA) and has done so since March 2017. In December 2020, he was appointed as a Trustee to the Upstream Training Trust (UTT), established by the Petroleum Agency SA and the companies participating in the South African off and onshore search for oil and gas. The Trust seeks to provide bursaries to eligible students interested in Petroleum (oil and gas) Exploration.
Date appointed to Board: 25 Nov 2015
Executive Director,
Chief Financial Officer
MR. BRIAN HARVEY
BTech. Mech Eng. BComm Hons in Accounting. CA(SA)
Brian is the Chief Financial Officer of Renergen Limited with over 15 years’ experience in senior finance roles after having initially qualified and worked as a mechanical engineer for De Beers. He has worked for multinational, foreign listed and JSE listed companies, principally in the resources sector, including Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East, Royal Bafokeng Holdings Pty Ltd and Anglo American plc.
He has both strategic and operational level experience in the finance area and been involved with the project finance and oversight of the delivery of several capital projects.
Date appointed to Board: 1 May 2021
For an abridged CV of our directors, please click on their respective names
Non-Executive Directors
Non-Executive,
Chairman, Independent
MR. BRETT KIMBER
Bsc Hons Mineral Economics, Bsc Hons Geochemistry
Brett is currently the Managing Director of Eazi Access Rental. He stepped down as Managing Director of African Oxygen Limited (Afrox) in January 2015 after a twenty-five-year career in the broader Linde group across Asia, the US and South Africa. He graduated with a Bsc Hons Geochemistry in 1987 and joined Anglo American in 1988 as a senior research geologist before joining the then BOC group (now Linde group) in 1990 where he served in various capacities.
Date appointed to Board: 17 June 2015
PhD; MSc; FAusIMM; FAICD
DR. DAVID KING
PhD; MSc; FAusIMM; FAICD
David is a professional geoscientist and has over 40 years’ experience in oil and gas and other natural resources industries. He holds an MSc in Geophysics from Imperial College, London, and a PhD in Seismology from the Australian National University, Canberra. David has held various Board positions with ASX natural resources companies, and was a founder of oil and gas companies Eastern Star Gas Ltd and Sapex Ltd. He has also served as Managing Director of ASX listed gold producer North Flinders Mines, CEO and Managing Director of oil & gas producers Beach Petroleum and Claremont Petroleum, and Chairman of Robust Resources Ltd. David is currently Non- Executive Director of ASX listed Galilee Energy Limited and AIM listed Litigation Capital Management Limited. David is a Fellow at the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, and Australasian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy.
Date appointed to Board: 16 Feb 2015
Non-Executive Director,
Independent
MR. MBALI SWANA
Bsc Hons Mineral Economics, Bsc Hons Geochemistry
Mbali is the chief executive officer of Prop5 Corporation Proprietary Limited, a turnkey-built environment infrastructure and engineered products developer which he founded in 1986. Mbali has significant experience in implementing large scale projects across Africa and is currently developing Prop5’s Africa-wide strategy for the development of infrastructure.
Date appointed to Board: 16 Feb 2015
Non-Executive Director,
Independent
MR. LUIGI MATTEUCCI
CA (SA)
Luigi actively consults on strategic and business development initiatives in the mining and engineering field. He served in senior management positions and as Financial Director of Highveld Steel and Vanadium Corporation Limited for 18 years up to 2007 where he implemented successful cost reduction and efficiency strategies.
Date appointed to Board: 3 May 2016
Non-Executive Director,
Independent
DR. BANE MALEKE
CA (SA)
Bane holds an MBA from Dalhousie University (Canada) and a Ph.D. – Strategic Management, from the University of Bath (UK). He spent 20 years in senior management at the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) and held the position of Regional Executive for the SADC and East Africa Regions. He is the chairman of an MNO in Lesotho and Director of an energy company.
Date appointed to Board: 7 Dec 2016
Non-Executive Director
MR. FRANCOIS OLIVIER
CA (SA) CFA, B.Com (Hons) University of Pretoria
Francois Olivier is a portfolio manager and executive committee member at Mazi Asset Management. He has 19 years of investment research and portfolio management experience, the first seven of which were spent in the USA.
Date appointed to Board: 19 Nov 2018