Some of the graduates with officials from Petroleum Commission and other guests
THE ENERGY Ministry has praised the Petroleum Commission for the pivotal role it has played in the training of Ghanaian youth in various modules under the Accelerated Oil & Gas Capacity Development Programme (AOGC).
According to the ministry, the country now has more capable and skilled Ghanaians prepared to take their rightful place in the upstream petroleum space.
Energy Minister Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh disclosed this in an address read on his behalf at the graduation of some 150 Ghanaian youth who have received training with relevant skills and competencies to actively participate in the country’s oil and gas industry.
The trained youth were selected from across the country after excelling in a nationwide examination and passing interviews.
They have successfully completed their various courses of training with internationally recognized certifications.
They were made up of 127 males and 23 females and completed the six-month training programme in mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and process engineering at the Jubilee Technical Training Centre (JTTC) on the Takoradi Technical University (TTU) campus.
He said since Ghana became a commercial producer of oil and gas, the country has lost out on opportunities for its indigenous technicians to play lead roles in the sector due to the skills gap.
He noted that it is therefore necessary for more Ghanaians to be trained to be able to manage the resource that God has blessed the nation with.
He revealed that in response to the pressing need, the AOGC was launched by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in November 2017.
He said the programme was established with the goal of aggressive investment in education and skills enhancement of Ghanaians to manage the country’s oil and gas sector.
“In this vein, the Petroleum Commission has collaborated with some multinational companies and internationally accredited educational institutions to establish a framework to offer technical training to a number of Ghanaians,” the Minister disclosed.
Egbert Faibille, Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission, said the fully sponsored programme had been effected in furtherance with government’s vision of an accelerated oil and gas capacity building programme.
He revealed the Commission spent US$7,500 on each of the students as tuition fees and paid a monthly stipend of GH¢1,000 for six months from September 2021 to March 2022.
“This is aside the provision of Personal Protection Equipment (PPEs) and the administrative charges paid to the Takoradi Technical University for the training,” he added.
He said “So in total, the Commission spent GH¢5.1 million for the training programme.”
FROM Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi