Let's develop rich local human resource for oil industry -Prof. Dedeh

The Dean of Faculty of Engineering Science, University of Ghana, Professor Samuel Kofi Sefa Dedeh has called for efforts to ensure Ghana developed the appropriate human resource to benefit from the oil find.

"There are a lot of skills needed for exploration and negotiations for petrol agreements, therefore, more people should be trained in the country to prevent the import of foreign expertise," Prof Dedeh said at a seminar on the oil industry in Accra.

The alumni of MBA programme on International Management of Resources and Environment (IMRE) of TU bergakademie Freiberg with financial support from DAAD in Germany organized the seminar on the theme: "Oil Find in Ghana: Issues for Sustainable Management".

The seminar brought together constituents of the university community and representatives form key public and private sector institutions to discuss the human resources needs of the petroleum industry and map out strategies for a university-industry partnership.

It created a platform for the interaction with industry on human resource development for the petroleum sector, identify new opportunities for the Faculty to expand its programmes, seek public-private partnership in resource mobilization, programme development and establishment of petroleum related disciplines at the University of Ghana.

Prof. Dedeh said to exploit the oil resources for the benefit of the present and future generations, there is the need not to compromise on the environment.

There is also the need to harness science, technology and human values to implement economic and social activities to ensure the well-being of current and future generations.

He identified some challenges facing the oil industry such as lack of human resource at the upstream operations, geophysicist, drilling engineers, lack of experience, and the lack of infrastructure.

Prof. Dedeh called on public and private sector institutions to collaborate in the development of need-based courses and the provision of a platform for the delivery of relevant research.