Anibor Kragha: Chief Operating Officer, Refineries & Petrochemicals, Directorate of NNPC
-By Danlami Nasir Isa
Mr. Anibor Ohiole Kragha holds four degrees: a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota (1996), a Masters in Plastics Engineering from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell (1998) and two Masters’ degrees received from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2003. At MIT, Mr. Kragha was a Fellow of the Leaders for Manufacturing (LFM) dual-degree program via which he secured both a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA).
WORK EXPERIENCE
Mr. Kragha is currently the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the Refineries & Petrochemicals Directorate of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), a position that he has held from April 2016 to date. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing the operations of NNPC’s four refineries with a total combined installed capacity of 445,000 barrels per day (BPD).
Before then, he served as the Group General Manager (GGM), Treasury for NNPC from September 2015 to March 2016, a role that saw him responsible for the Treasury Operations and inter-company funding arrangements for NNPC. He was responsible for coordinating the implementation of the Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) initiative across all Strategic Business Units in NNPC. Prior to joining NNPC, Mr. Kragha spent over ten years working for Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), an affiliate of ExxonMobil, in various capacities of increasing responsibility in Nigeria and the United States. At MPN, Mr. Kragha served as Upstream Treasurer for ExxonMobil Affiliates in Nigeria from July 2012 to September 2015 and was responsible for Affiliate Finance, Benefits Finance & Investments, Cash Management and Insurance activities.
From January 2011 to June 2015, Mr. Kragha served as Financial Advisor for the ExxonMobil Development Company (EMDC) in Houston and Affiliate Finance Department at the ExxonMobil Corporate Headquarters in Dallas. At EMDC, he worked on a landmark US$ 1.5 billion project financing arrangement for Nigeria and developed a National Content framework for cross-functional teams in Angola, Indonesia and Houston. In the Affiliate Finance role, he worked on complex valuations for ExxonMobil’s Hong Kong and Singapore subsidiaries, re-introduced inter-company financing into Esso Thailand and coordinated financing arrangements for affiliates in Thailand, Malaysia and Nigeria. From February 2005 to December 2010, he occupied various positions of increasing responsibility in ExxonMobil Upstream Africa Audit and MPN’s Commercial and Treasurer’s departments.
His roles included leading a diverse range of audit engagements in Chad, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Angola and Nigeria, implementing various Alternative Funding Arrangements and performing analysis of the impact of proposed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) provisions on industry-wide oil & gas operations in Nigeria. Mr. Kragha also worked as a Manufacturing Team Coordinator and Process Engineer at the Polaroid Corporation in the USA from 1998 to 2001.
He performed his mandatory one-year Nigeria National Youth Service requirement by providing leadership and career development seminars at local secondary schools.
At the 14th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the African Refineries and Downstream Association (ARA) held at the Century City Conference Centre, Cape Town, South Africa held on March 27, 2019, Mr. Anibor Ohiole Kragha was elected to lead the association for the year 2019 to 2020 activities. He succeeds Mr. Hilaire Kabore of Burkina Faso.
Mr. Kragha is happily married with three beautiful daughters and his interests include mentoring, sports, fitness & exercise, traveling, fine dining, architecture and interior design.
