The Japan International Cooperation Agency, (JICA) together with the Training Centre of the Electricity Company of Ghana has completed a second phase of the Agency’s Electrical Engineering Training For African Countries has come to a successful end after a seven week training.
The training which witnessed participants from nine African countries across the continent equipped them with knowledge in electricity network design, distribution system planning, system protection and control as well as cable and substation maintenance. The participants were from the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania and hosted by the ECG Training Centre in Tema, with JICA providing sponsorship.
At the closing ceremony, the Chief Representative for the JICA Ghana Office, Ms. Suzuki Momoko indicated that the second phase of this training program has been expanded to cover nine countries, drawing from the success of the first session which had participants from four countries in the West African region, saying that “seeing the success of last year, this year, we have expanded our target countries to nine countries. The seven-week training program targets technicians in maintenance of electrical equipment and engineers in distribution planning, design, system protection and control”.
Madam Momoko emphasized that resources can be put into projects and equipment but if the human resource meant to manage these are not equipped. Then the investment could turn out badly, For this, she said “ we believe that capacity building of technicians and engineers are indispensable. It is the technicians and the engineers who are maintaining the network and ensuring that electricity is distributed as planned. I hope that what you have learned here will contribute to your country’s sustainable electricity system”.
On his part, the ECG Director for the Training Centre, Ing. Godfred Mensah indicated that as part of the course, “the trainees got field trips to Helios Solar plant in the Tema Free Zones enclave, Mienergy solar plant in Mankoadze near Winneba and the Akosombo Dam. The purpose of these trips were for them to gain insight into power generation in Ghana”. He also added that “they also got to appreciate the roles of power transmission and distribution, considering that the generation sources in Ghana are remote from the load centres”. He urged them to share the knowledge they have gained with their colleagues and seek to contribute meaningfully to their respective utility companies in their home countries.
The closing ceremony where these remarks were made, was held on Friday, 22nd November 2024 at the ECG Training Centre where certificates were presented to the participants.