Lloyd’s Register appoints regional business director for Africa

Ngozi Gwam has been promoted by Lloyd’s Register (LR) to become business director and senior representative for Africa, as the classification society strengthens its presence and expands its business across the continent’s maritime and offshore industries.

In this role, Mr Gwam will represent LR across Africa, engaging with clients to meet their evolving requirements as the maritime and offshore sectors tackle more complex challenges.

He will also lead LR’s strategic growth across the continent, building on his previous experience as business development manager for sub-Saharan Africa. Since taking on the business development manager role in 2018, Mr Gwam has strengthened relationships with key clients in Nigeria, Namibia and South Africa, and established LR’s commercial presence in Kenya and Angola.

He also led the opening of LR’s office in Mozambique, further expanding the UK-headquartered class society’s geographical presence in southern Africa.

LR said his efforts have already contributed to revenue growth, increased client engagement and diversified LR’s services in the region.

“Looking ahead, my focus will be to drive scale and deliver significant impact within the continent’s blue economy, while ensuring that LR remains recognised as a reliable partner to all stakeholders,” said Mr Gwam.

He has been with LR since December 2013, when he joined the Aberdeen office as a project manager. He went on to serve as business manager for Nigeria, and later as innovation programme manager and project manager for northern Europe, where he worked on ballast water treatment systems.

Prior to joining LR, Mr Gwam held technical and project roles with Schlumberger, Speedcast and Harris CapRock, managing offshore communications and network systems.

In addition to his commercial work, Mr Gwam leads LR’s Chevening Scholarship programme across Africa – an initiative he started in 2020. This programme supports individuals across sub-Saharan Africa to pursue postgraduate studies in the UK, contributing to the long-term development of Africa’s maritime and energy talent pipeline.

Mr Gwam also supports LR’s country leads for the Ocean Centres in Africa, a collaboration between LR Foundation and the UN Global Compact.