William Tewiah, Managing Director - ZEN Petroleum Limited

William Tewiah is the Managing Director of Zen Petroleum, a business he founded in 2008, in an industry he had no prior experience of.

Following his A levels, William worked in a factory after which he landed a job with Lloyds Bank in 1987, after 200 job applications. His big break came in 1994 when he secured a job with Merrill Lynch as a Management Accountant.  He went on to work as a Freelance Business Analyst with Japanese Bank - Nomura Bank and in various roles with PwC, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Schroders Asset Management, Credit Suisse and UBS Bank.

William relocated to Ghana in 2008, following which, he started working on ZEN Petroleum in 2009 and won an initial contract supplying fuel to the Goldfields Mines in 2010. During this time, he largely worked on his own driving up and down to the mines at Tarkwa, located in Ghana’s Western Region.

ZEN Petroleum turned over $30m in its first year of operations, with a profit of $20,000. Since then, the company has gone on to win fuel and lubricant supply and management contracts with several mining companies in Ghana, Mali and Burkina Faso. This has made ZEN the largest supplier of fuel to Ghana’s mining sector, employing over 300 staff. In 2018, the ZEN brand expanded its portfolio to include the fuel retail business, starting with 20 stations with plans to double in size before the end of 2019. Currently, ZEN Petroleum is the 4th largest Oil Marketing Company in Ghana.

William remains responsible for strategic direction and day to day management of all Zen Petroleum operations and related activities in Ghana and other markets the company operates in.