Frédéric Maupetit has taken over as chief executive of Rubis Energy Kenya, joining a growing number of expatriates, mainly French nationals, holding executive positions at Kenya’s third-largest oil marketer.
Business Daily has established that Mr Maupetit officially assumed the role on May 1, 2026, replacing Olivier Sabrié, who will now serve as group managing director for the oil marketer’s Eastern and Southern Africa operations.
Mr Maupetit’s appointment deepens expatriate influence in Rubis Energy Kenya’s executive ranks, with at least six French nationals holding senior leadership positions at the company.
The high number of foreigners in these plum positions shifts focus to the oil marketer’s perception of the ability of local talent. Government policy discourages the employment of foreigners except in positions where there is a shortage of local skills.
Some of the other senior executive positions at Rubis Energy Kenya held by French nationals include heads of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), lubricants supply chain, lubes development and group depot operations.
Local talent
Successive governments in Kenya have maintained a policy requiring foreign subsidiaries to recruit expatriates only for roles where locals lack the required expertise. The policy is intended to create jobs for Kenyans while ensuring the transfer of technical skills to local employees.
Rubis is among the oil firms likely to come under the spotlight in the wake of proposed legal changes aimed at reserving top executive positions in the petroleum sector for Kenyans.
Kenya is seeking to introduce legal changes that would require foreign-owned oil firms to progressively reserve a share of top management positions for Kenyan nationals.
The proposed changes are contained in the Petroleum (Local Content) Regulations, under which firms would be required to reserve 30 percent of management slots for Kenyans to obtain an operating licence. The threshold would rise to 75 percent after five years and reach 100 percent within 10 years.
Mr Maupetit’s appointment is part of Rubis’s restructuring to separate the Kenyan business from its wider Eastern and Southern Africa operations, with each unit to be led by its own chief executive.
Mr Maupetit previously worked at TotalEnergies for 15 years in various roles, including head of retail strategy and performance management for the African market between July 2020 and August 2021, and managing director for Togo between August 2021 and October 2024.
He later headed TotalEnergies’ investor relations division from September 2024 to April 2026 before joining rival Rubis.
Rubis is Kenya’s third-largest oil marketer, with a 13.77 percent market share, behind TotalEnergies Marketing Kenya and Vivo Energy.
