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Introducing Pontiva
“This is the biggest chapter, the biggest risk and leap that I’m making, and the one I’m most excited about.”
Business developmentCapital planningTransaction support
Providing institutional discipline, strategic clarity and execution capability for energy and infrastructure opportunities across Africa.
Senior leadership at
The Challenge
The energy markets don't sit still. You need to evolve quickly amidst increasing complexity.
To remove bottlenecks and unlock growth, you need to attract strong operational and capital partners – and you need to do this at pace to stay competitive in today's dynamic energy markets.
The Approach
Bridging ambition and opportunity.
Pontiva partners with leadership teams to bridge ambition and execution so you can scale with confidence – whether seeking to raise global capital, entering new markets, instilling institutional discipline or navigating geopolitical risks.
We bring the insights and experience of large institutions across energy and finance to growing energy companies, helping you tackle complex challenges quickly and turn strategy into practical, commercial results.
From the first conversation to execution, you have direct access to our founder, supported by a wider advisory network across energy and finance. You will gain the institutional rigour of governance, risk management and deal structures shaped inside large global institutions, and the on-the-ground insight of deep relationships across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Three core principles
De-risk the delta
The delta is the gap between perceived and actual risk in complex markets. Institutional governance, live relationships on the ground and adaptive leadership are what close it.
Energy security and affordability first
Deliberately agnostic between hydrocarbons and renewables. The right answer depends on resource, government support, infrastructure and where demand actually sits.
Indigenous and international, together
The best deals need a multi-party team: local operators, African banks, DFIs and international capital. Pontiva structures that coalition — and holds it together through execution.
Advisory Services
What we offer.
Advisory
Partnering with management teams to build the institutional readiness that serious capital demands — governance and institutional discipline, investor narrative and risk framing, and board credibility in front of investors.
Capital Markets Solutions
Supporting high-quality African energy and infrastructure businesses as they engage with investors, operators and financing partners across the US, Europe and the Gulf. Particular focus on investment readiness, capital planning and strategic engagement with potential equity and debt providers, drawing on relationships built over decades across global financial markets.
Trading Capabilities
Enabling companies to build and expand commodity trading arms, and supporting energy traders as they scale into new jurisdictions and navigate rising geopolitical complexity. Drawn from leading a $1bn+ supply, trading and shipping business across Europe and Africa.
Team
The people behind the practice.
Emily Watt
Founder & CEO
Nearly two decades of senior leadership across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the US — with senior roles at bp, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Bank.
Deep expertise across energy trading and shipping, financing, risk management, and African markets.
Most recently Regional Business Leader for Europe & Africa at bp, overseeing a $1bn+ oil and biofuels supply, trading and shipping business. Chaired major deal governance boards, led geopolitical and maritime crisis responses across the Middle East and Africa, directed an FCA-regulated entity, and built long-term partnerships across Sub-Saharan Africa.
First-hand understanding of what banks, traders, and investors require to deploy capital.
$1bn+
Business led at bp
20+
Years senior leadership
4
Regions — Europe, Africa, Middle East & US
Kodwo (Kojo) Mills
Strategic Partner, Pontiva Advisory · Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Invictus Africa Group
- 25+ years in African private equity. Co-Founder and Deputy CEO of Shanduka Group (South Africa, $1bn+ NAV); earlier Salomon Brothers and DLJ.
- $3bn+ corporate transactions, $1bn+ realised returns, $500m+ capital raised.
- Lead Independent Director and Audit & Risk Chair, Stanbic Investment Management Services Ghana; NACD-certified director.
In Emily's Words
The thinking behind the practice.
“I want to bottle up those insights that I’ve built up over those years. And I want to empower growing companies who are encountering many of the same challenges that I’ve lived through.”
Five short clips, one to two minutes each — and a recent panel.
More on LinkedIn1:22
Africa is the investment story of the future
“The reason deals don’t get done is not because they’re not economically viable.”
1:22
From finance to oil and gas
“I got to open my eyes to a whole new world of providing energy to people who need it most.”
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A guide to energy crisis management
“It’s not business as usual. And it’s not going to be business as usual for a long time.”
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The Energy Executive 360 podcast, episode 13
“A lot of my moves throughout my career have been driven by two things: volatility and impact.”
Panel · 2026
Invest in African Energy Forum
Moderating a panel on Africa’s risk premium, with Shell Trading & Shipping, First Bank of Nigeria, Mercatus Energy and (B)energy.
Get in Touch
Send a message.
Discuss your growth priorities and the challenges getting in the way.