Last week, the media reported that a new oil and gas training institute, Sun Maker Energy (Uganda) Ltd, a Chinese company will be opening in Kampala this month and is expected to train Ugandans and other students from the region to work in Uganda’s oil industry.
This story comes barely 2 week after the launch of a training programme for oil and gas welders by Total E&P Uganda.
The training to be held in the districts of Buliisa and Lwengo is aimed at improving the employability of Ugandans from the Albertine region and East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) areas.
This is also as legislated in the Petroleum (Exploration, Development and Production) Act, 2013 (Upstream law) and the Petroleum (Refining, Conversion, Transmission and Midstream Storage) Act (Midstream law) stipulating on national content that a licensee in the oil sector should offer recruitment and training, award of scholarship, technology transfer and offer employment to Ugandans in the oil and gas sector.
According to oil companies, there is a gap in the skill sets needed for the oil and gas industry.
This gap in labor exists because majority of prospective sector employees lack appropriate career education, training and skills to take on the oil jobs.
A 2014 industrial baseline survey conducted on oil and gas sector in Uganda indicated that about 150,000 jobs are expected to be filled when oil production enters advanced stages.
Of the 15,000 jobs, 15% will be experts like engineers, while 60% will be technicians and craftsmen.
The remaining percentage will be the unskilled category. Further, the study revealed that Uganda’s vocational schools produce about 7,000 craftsmen annually but the industry’s estimated demand at peak production stands at 5,500 craftsmen.
With this oil sector job demand and the country’s current high rate of unemployment, technical and vocational education has great potential of accelerating Uganda’s drive towards economic development.
This will lead to the realization of the country’s local content aspirations and ensure lasting benefits from the oil resources.