January 16, 1999

High-flyer out of Africa

I came out of Africa and with that experience I became intent on finding alternative ways to put investment back into less-developed regions while connecting them to existing outside infrastructure. Nebraska-born Hill, 49, is accustomed to thinking long-term. His forte was hatching billion-dollar strategies to develop business in unusual cultural environments.

Patience was the chief virtue. After a spell with ABB in Johannesburg and then Lagos, Nigeria, he took up a vice-presidential role in a United Meridian unit (now Ocean Energy) that worked with Apache Corporation to move gas from Ivory Coast into neighboring Ghana. Grappling with the financial and logistical challenges of commercializing gas-to-wire projects in less-developed and energy deficient markets became his stock in trade.

It may be considered odd, then, that he took on the task of turning around a moribund Texan company whose stock had all but collapsed. But by his own admission Hill was a wild child back in the 1960s and it still gives him a kick to swim against the tide. He is a seasoned jet pilot and was once invited up for a spin in the clouds by Ghana's President Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings.