Business
East Africa: Shortage of skilled workers in oil and gas industry slowing development of sector
Oil rig in Uganda. PHOTO/Tullow Oil
A shortage of trained oil and gas workers in East Africa is slowing development of new fields following a series of major discoveries and may force governments to relax rules requiring companies to employ local people.
Governments are now investing in programs to train skilled oil and gas workers, but they are hampered by weak education systems and the high costs involved.
Rolake Akinkugbe, head of energy research at Ecobank, said it would take at least 10 years of training programmes to make a lasting impact on employment in the oil and gas industries in the region.
“It’s a major problem and it will take time to solve,” she said.
“I certainly foresee a situation where the East African governments might have to relax their local content rules around employment and contractors, certainly in the early stages of development of hydrocarbons resources.”
Governments are now instituting different policies to train workers, but all these solutions are costly and slow.