Johan Nell

At a glance:

Joined Baringa
2017

Works across
Natural resources industries, including oil and gas, metals and mining, and agriculture

Best advice
From his father – “Let your yes be your yes, your no be your no, and your good name be above all else.”

In detail:

Helping to electrify South African townships in his early days as an electrical engineer, and now leading Baringa’s natural resources team, Johan has been working with energy his whole career. In his mind, natural resources are at the heart of how the world creates wealth, and fundamental to society’s growth. It’s an obligation to extract and convert them meaningfully and efficiently, while at the same time attracting capital and shareholder value to then invest in new energy technologies and transition to renewable energy.

When working with his clients, Johan favours content-heavy and methodology-light approaches. Something he applied when advising the CIO of a European oil exploration and development company about the size, accessibility, and quality of reservoirs – their fundamental asset. Truly understanding the value of data, the business opened up their data lakes and crowdsourced technical skills from inside and outside the organisation. Liberating data generated a better valuation for the client, and – strengthened by a strong balance sheet – allowing them to drive towards and energy transition.

Outside of work, Johan spends his energy playing golf, walking the dogs with his wife, or tackling iconic routes on his road bike. When he’s not on the move, he’s sitting on the board of a local charity.