Catherine Uju Ifejika, Chief Executive Officer Brittania-U Group
-By Danlami Nasir Isah
Uju Ifejika whose full name is Catherine Uju Ifejika is a Nigerian lawyer and oil magnate. She is the CEO of Brittania-U Nigeria Limited (BUNL) and Brittania-U Ghana (BUGL) which are both affiliates of the Brittania-U Group, an indigenous and integrated Oil & Gas Company. She is one of the richest women in Africa and also one of the most influential women in the oil and gas sector of the world.
Uju Ifejika was born in Opobo, Rivers State on the 28th of October in 1959. She got her primary school education from the University Primary school, Nsukka and then went on to Queens School, Enugu for her secondary school education.
A graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Catherine obtained a Diploma in Law and an LLB (Hons.) in 1985 and promptly called to the Nigerian Bar in 1986. She is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, a fellow of the Institute of Arbitration and Conciliation, as well as a member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.
Uju Ifejika started her steady rise to prominence with working for Texaco and eventually Chevron. She worked her way up the ranks at a steady but determined pace, she started at the position of Junior Counsel, and went on to become Acting Chief Counsel and eventually became the Company Secretary for Public and Government Affairs. By 2003 she had risen to the position of Company Secretary for Public and Government Affairs for West Africa.
She became the CEO of Brittania-U Nigeria Limited in 2007. The company’s operations cover the entire range from oil exploration to production, refining, trading, supply & distribution. Hence the company is actively involved in Upstream (Exploration & Production), Downstream (Supply & Trading), Shipping and Sub-Surface Engineering Affiliate Companies. Catherine is the first and so far, the only woman to become chair and CEO of an Upstream Exploration and Production Company in Nigeria.
She also founded other companies for herself of which include Data Appraisal Co. Ltd, Nexttee Oil & Gas Trading Co. Nigeria Ltd and Brittania-U Ghana Limited.
Catherine’s leadership of Brittania-U has brought a number of significant ‘firsts’. The Ajapa Floating Production Storage Unit, 100% owned and operated by the company, produced its first oil from drilling in 17 months; a feat yet to be equaled by any other company of its kind in Nigeria. She has set up six subsidiary companies in seven years, receiving numerous awards for good governance and management in Nigeria, the US, China, and Europe.
Uju Ifejika served on the Board of Directors of the Federal Ministry of Arts and Culture of Nigeria from 2001 to 2002.
She received the African Businesswoman Award from Black Pumps in 2013.
She is married to Emmanuel Ifejika and together they have three children. She also adopted three more children.
