Maria Fernanda Suarez
Accenture
Managing Director
María Fernanda has more than 25 years of experience in the private and public sectors. From 2018 to 2020, she was Colombia's Minister of Mines and Energy. In this capacity, she architected the country’s energy transition plan. Also she set the plan for bringing electricity to half a million Colombians for the first time. In addition, she led the roadmap for non-conventional reservoirs in Colombia, establishing a long-term diversified energy strategy for the country. Prior to this, Maria Fernanda led an efficiency and transformation plan as Executive Chief Financial Officer & Strategy at Ecopetrol, one of the largest corporations in LatAm. Her strategic direction positioned the firm amongst the most efficient player in the oil and gas sector in Colombia. She has held leadership positions in the Ministry of Finance, Porvenir Pension Fund, Citibank, Abn Amro and Bank of America. She is currently a board member of Organización Corona and Corficolombiana, and has previously served on the boards of ISA, Isagen, Cenit, and Ocensa. Funtional Experience: International Markets, Policy Determination, Investment Analysis, Business Transformation, Crisis Management, Industry Experience, Energy, Mining, Finance, Selected experiencie, Minister Mines & Energy, Republic of Colombia, Led Colombia’s energy transition, from 0.1% to 12% of electricity mix, ranked by World Economic Forum as 25th energy-transition country readiness. Renewal of the hydrocarbon sector. >25 new areas awarded in conventional on/offshore. Plan definition and legal framework for unconventional reservoirs pilot projects. Strategic management of public opinion and articulation of public and private sector instances. Digital transformation of the government mining agency (ANM), first digital mining cadaster and automation of mining rights requests and management. Design and implementation of policy and programs: mining formalization, coordination and onboarding of local communities and gender equality in mining and energy sector. 2030 Climate change master plan for the mining and energy sector to comply with Colombia´s Paris Agreement target. Executive CFO & Strategy, Ecopetrol: Led the cultural transformation and efficiency program during the 2015 - 2016 oil price crisis, lowering breakeven from US$65/bbl to US$30/bbl, in 24 months. Restructure of capital discipline process (Capex US$4 Billion/year) & debt structure, lowering Debt/Ebitda from 5X to 2x, with significant savings & improvement in credit rating. Start-up and project overhaul of the newest refinery in Latam. Designed Ecopetrol’s corporate governance as a holding, with local and international affiliates. Led the post crisis growth strategy that led Ecopetrol to a Joint Venture with Occidental Petroleum in the US Permian Basin.
