Samuel Dossou-Aworet was born in Porto Novo, Benin. He is the founder and chairman of the PETROLIN group, an international Pan-African oil, gas, energy and infrastructure company, founded in 1992.   The Petrolin Group is active in areas of trading, exploration and production, with offices in Capetown, Cotonou, Geneva and Libreville. It has operations and/or strategic interests in Central and West Africa (Nigeria, Gabon, Congo, DRC, Ivory Coast), in the Great Lakes region (Burundi, Malawi, Zambia) and in the Middle-East. Petrolin was an early investor in the South African telecom, MTN.

Mr. Dossou-Aworet is a petroleum engineer by training from the French Institute of Petroleum (1972) and is a highly-respected businessman who, for more than 40 years has played an active role in negotiating numerous lucrative oil deals.   Throughout his dynamic career, Mr. Dossou-Aworet has been entrusted with high-level positions such as Chairman of the OPEC Board of Governors and served as Strategic Advisor to many heads of state and international oil companies for more than 20 years.   General Manager of Hydrocarbons in Gabon for more than 15years.

Whether as a partner or consultant, Mr. Dossou-Aworet has provided strategic input in the development of prominent international oil companies and government entities, notably in Cameroon, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria.\, Namibia, Burundi, South Africa and Uganda.

In the area of infrastructure, the Backbone Project in West Africa is the brainchild of Mr. Dossou-Aworet, who is the creator and promoter.  The project includes the development of a Petroleum, Mineral And Commercial Port, (for which he has received a certificate of environmental and social impact fitness) the dry port of Parakou in Benin – which has just been completed, an international airport and the Cotonou-Parakou-Dosso-Niamey railway corridor (for which Mr. Dossou won the international tender)  to transport cargo and mineral ores to/from Benin and landlocked countries including Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Northern Nigeria. The project is covered by a comprehensive Framework Agreement which is now being fully actualized.  When completed this integrated infrastructure, project will impact the lives of over 350 million in the West African sub-region.

Mr. Dossou-Aworet has received many awards for his work in the oil industry as well as his many humanitarian endeavors.