Our Team

Steve Martin is an energy executive with 22 years of energy projects experience in Turkey, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Africa with a solid technical & managerial background covering business & project development, sales and operations from project/construction management and O&M of power stations to oil & gas exploration and production. Steve is a business growth specialist and prior to joining TUTEN and founding KS Energy Africa he was the first to consolidate and lead a new sub-region of 19 countries within the energy portfolio for GE in Central & Eastern Europe responsible for developing and executing strategic plans across all GE Energy profit centers including thermal large and small turbines, oil & gas, services, nuclear, wind, hydro applications that resulted in a new regional pole focus being established. Steve was also the founding member of the Global GE Greenhouse Gas Team which started in 2003 to focus on monetization of emissions trading schemes. Steve was born in Devils Lake, North Dakota in 1966 and was educated at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (BSc Mechanical Engineering, 1989) and Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska where he pursued an MBA (1991-92).

Turgut Tuten is a project finance specialist with a broad background covering banking and corporate finance, public administration, trading, and project development. Turgut had an independent consultancy business focusing on project development, project finance and company restructuring in Turkey and abroad. Between 1993 and 1998 Turgut was a Senior Country Manager – Central Asia for the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) in London. He established and maintained relations with Central Asia governments and key agencies and prepared EBRD’s first country strategies in several countries followed with private and public sector debt transaction for Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia. Turgut’s earlier job experiences include government positions in the prime ministry as deputy undersecretary of the State Planning Organization (subsequently the Treasury) and executive positions at Turkish Eximbank, as well as the oil & gas division of a major regional bank in the USA. Turgut has a Dipl-Ing degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Karlruhe, an M.Sc. in Food Science & Technology from MIT and an MBA from the University of Chicago”

Tarik Tuten as the founding partner of TUTEN and its predecessor company, Topkapi Endustri, has been a pioneer in industrial power generation and cogeneration in Turkey since the market was opened to private sector in 1986. Tarik has led TUTEN in facilitating the sale and installation of more than 3500 MWe of power plant capacity in Turkey, and led the company’s international expansion into Russia and Central Asia. Tarik was born in Istanbul in 1958 and was educated at Karlsruhe University where he received a Dipl.-Ing. in Mechanical Engineering with specialization in energy technologies in 1982. He also studied mechanical engineering at the graduate school of Stanford University, Palo Alto, California in 1982-83, and received a Master of Science degree in Energy and Resources in 1985 from the University of California, Berkeley. Tarik completed his post-graduate studies in business administration at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.

Mr. Abdullah Kurt worked at GE for 12 years and held positions of FS representative, contract manager and regional performance manager. Turkish Citizen and retired Turkish Air force member. Mr. Kurt has 16years experience on Jet engines (J79, J85 and F110) and was a jet engine instructor with Turkish Air force. Joined Pro-Per in 2010 as the Business Development Manager. Currently, Group Chief Operations Manager. University Graduate – Business Administration.

Mr. Lekalake worked in the insurance industry for 20 years from 1987 – 2007 and rose through the ranks to become an executive member of Botswana’s largest Life Insurer and Pension Funds management company in the country. It is through this experience that he acquired extensive corporate finance and project management experience as well as knowledge of the business culture of Botswana and the region. Before joining Botswana Life Mr. Lekalake worked as a professional assistant in Botswana at a local law firm Minchin & Kelly from 1982-1987. Mr. Lekalake joined KS Energy in 2010 as an executive director and he holds a Bachelor of Arts (Law) Degree and Diploma in Insurance Studies.

Prior to joining KS Energy, he worked as Military Engines Field Representative at General Electric Company for nine years. Turkish Citizen and retired Turkish Air force member. Appointed as Group Operations Director to oversee all KSE O&M existing projects and prospects. Good stakeholder management, costing and financial analysis of O&M projects across Africa market. Holds Public Management diploma and Several General Electric trainings on various GE LM series equipment. Currently oversees Operations and Maintenance total ~300MW gas turbine power plants in Africa. Currently managing O&M for Orapa, BUA and prospect projects with 35 years experience and management skills of the gas turbine engines. He has a degree in public management.

Fadel has worked 12 years in the Energy industry and held various roles in several countries within Europe and Africa for well-known international companies. He has working experiences in project development/sales, power plants construction (EPCs for OCPP & CCPP single shaft), O&G (platforms & FPSOs) managing service contracts with full P&L and contract renewal responsibilities. Fadel has also worked a few years in the mining industry in West Africa. He holds an electrical engineering bachelor from the Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal together with a Masters in Business from Italy. Fadel fluently speaks English, French and Italian.

Steven has 10 years’ experience in public practice (“top 4”) and industry covering financial accounting, international taxation, auditing and financial management. Main sector experience in manufacturing, mining/exploration and FMCGs. Steven is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (ACSI), Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants (ACA) and has a certificate in International Auditing (CertIA). On his day off he enjoys a round of golf.

Mr. Orhan Casur retired from Turkish Air force were he worked with Jet engines (F110, J79) He joined GE, where he held positions of Mechanical Supervisor and HSE Manager for 4.5 years. Mr. Casur has worked with GE(GE LM 2500, LM 6000, Frame 6, Frame 9). Orhan has 30 years experience with Gas Turbines. Mr. Casur joined KS Energy in 2010 and works as Technical Manager. He has a Business Management Diploma.

Mr. Lekoko Tiro is a SHEQ Specialist who has a Bachelor’s Technology in Safety Management from University of South Africa, a Qualified OHSAS and ISO 9001:2015 lead Auditor, ISO & HSE Management system developer with 9 years of experience in the Power Generation Industry. Has worked for APR Botswana for a year as a SHEQ Manager, and is currently working as a SHEQ Manager/ Power Plant Manager for KS Energy. Currently studying Diploma in Business Management and completing in May 2020.

Mr. Metin INEC retired from Turkish Air force where he worked on different types of aircraft (F100/ F-5 /F104 and F16) 27 years. Mr. INEC has worked on GE-LM 2500, LM 6000, Frame-6B, as mechanical supervisor. At MAN D&T (THM1304-10/14) as field service engineer and installation and commissioning of 4X THM 1304-14. Mr. Inec joined KS Energy Nigeria in 2014 as Deputy Plant Manager and later became BUA Plant Manager in Nigeria until his appointment in 2022 as Nigeria Managing Director.

Mr. Gurkan TEZKOSAN has experience at power generation industry for 24 years. He has worked as I&C -High Voltage supervisor on GE, Siemens, Alstom, M.A.N, Mitsubishi and Solar gas turbine-generator sets and also coal fired thermal power plants. He has joined to KS energy in January 2015. He has worked in BUA-OBU power plant as a maintenance team leader between 2015 and 2018. He was appointed deputy plant manager in 2018. Recently, he is in BUA-OBU power plant as active manager.

Mr. Nejdet KARATAS has 30 years engineering experience in industrial areas: 20 years in Power Plants, including Coal Fired Power Plants, Natural Gas and Hydro power plants. He worked in commissioning, start-up and commercial operation stages and performed operation & maintenance duties as electrical engineer, lead operation engineer and power plant manager. He worked 10 years in different industrial areas such as Natural Gas Pipeline Operation, GSM infrastructure and Railways.

He joined KSE in 2021 and has been working as Power Plant Manager in BUA Sokoto Power Plant, Nigeria.