A mainstay of Total’s downstream Africa business, Total Maroc’s business model was revolutionised in 2014, when Zahid Group’s 30% share acquisition meant Total was no longer the sole shareholder. Legal head Najette Kheiri was praised highly for her handling of the transaction, which she deems ‘the highlight of my in-house career to date’.

She is currently working on the company’s planned IPO on the Casablanca Stock Exchange, opening a further 15% of share capital up to investors. During her time in the role, Kheiri has made it her focus to develop comprehensive frameworks and guidelines to be applied across the business. ‘I believe that key success for a legal department is a good measure of risk and efficiency in work’. Integrating the local business function with the rest of the global brand is also an ongoing consideration in her role.

‘Total is present in 130 different countries and has to accommodate, each time, internal procedure with specificity of each country’, she explains. ‘My challenge is to offer a comprehensive solution’.