Patricia Simon-Hart, Founder/Managing Director, Aftrac Limited

Patricia Simon-Hart is a tri-sector, results-driven professional with over 30 years of experience in the private, public, and non-profit sectors. She has expertise in ICT, oil and gas, water, public policy and development, and is passionate about providing solutions to improve the operational efficiency and institutional strengthening of organisations through the introduction of technology, reforms, and capacity building.

Starting her career in the ICT sector, Patricia transitioned to the oil and gas industry where she established Aftrac Limited. Aftrac Limited is an ISO 9001:2015 certified oil and gas service company. They began operations in 1998, and have over 23 years of experience in delivering production monitoring and well testing services to the upstream oil and gas sector in the West African sub-region.

Their headquarters is located in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, from where they provide specialised technology, equipment and expertise for exploration and production related projects and services. Their facilities include a yard of over 3,200 m2, a testing bay, a large warehouse, and separate office space that includes a training centre. Aftrac also has a yard on Bonny Island, and a liaison office in Lagos to ensure seamless service delivery to their customers.

Patricia oversees the successful running of the business. From 2009 to 2015, Patricia served as Commissioner for Water Resources and Rural Development, appointed by the government of Rivers State, Nigeria. During her tenure, she championed the State Water Sector Reforms, introducing the first Rivers State water policy, updating State water laws, creating new water institutions, developing a statewide water sector development plan, and securing international development assistance from the World Bank and AfDB for the rehabilitation and upgrade of the Port Harcourt urban water supply scheme, designed to deliver water to over 1.2 million people. She also secured technical assistance from the European Union, USAID, WSP, and UNICEF for various initiatives, including institutional strengthening, water governance and regulation, training among others.

Currently, Patricia serves as an independent non-executive director on the board of Aradel Holdings Plc, Nigeria’s first integrated oil and gas investment company. She also serves on the executive board of PETAN, an advocacy group that drives local participation and technology in the oil and gas sector. Additionally, she is a co-founder and VP Upstream of Women in Energy Network (WIEN), a non-profit involved in increasing female participation in the energy value chain.

Patricia holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard, Kennedy School of Government, and a B.Sc. in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Port Harcourt. She has also completed the Senior Executive Programme at London Business School and numerous other executive programmes.