New US$1.6 million Welder Training Centre to boost growth in oil industry

A lot more services in Ghana’s Oil and Gas Industry are from now expected to be provided by local artisans rather than expatriates - to the benefit of the economy.

This follows the opening of the US$1.6 million state-of-the-art Welder Training Centre on Saturday, June 11, 2016. The first of its kind in Ghana, the facility is located on the campus of the Regional Maritime University in Accra.

Speaking at the opening, Transport Minister, Fifi Kwetey lauded the initiative as timely for the development of the local oil and gas Industry.

Transport Minister, Fifi Kwetey
“With the coming on-stream of the 10 fields, it is cost strategic that MODEC and Tullow Ghana chose to focus on training in vocational skills. We can now produce the specialized skills that meet international requirements for the use of the many contractors involved in development, production and management of the fields. This is the area where the oil contractors are likely to employ a larger majority of man-hours and indeed with the effectiveness of the local content and participation would be greatly imparted” he said

The centre was constructed by oil services provider, MODEC in collaboration with Tullow Ghana to equip local artisans with the requisite professional skills and certification for developing the country’s oil and gas industry. This is to bridge the gap in requisite skills-set among indigenous artisans said to be unduly affecting growth in Ghana’s petroleum industry.

Presdient of MODEC International, Puneet Sharma outlined JOY BUSINESS how the initiative is expected to boost oil industry.

“Hopefully for future projects, a lot more of the work can be done inside Ghana where the welders get trained here. It will all depend on what other investments are made in the country. We as an industry and as a company have the effort on our own to help bridge the gap. We work with GNPC and the Ministry of Energy to identify the companies that want to do business in the oil and gas industry. We do checks on those companies and we provide that information back to the government. The government can then turn around and work with us to help bridge those gaps by identifying places to provide these types of training centres” he explained.

Chief Executive of Tullow Ghana, Charles Darko
Emphasizing Tullow’s commitment to the country’s Local Content Agenda, the Chief Executive of Tullow Ghana, Charles Darko also noted the benefits of the centre would transcend the oil industry.

“Tullow Ghana set up a Jubilee Technical Training Centre at the Takoradi Polytechnic also to provide international accredited vocational training for Ghanaian nationals in the fields of instrumentation, mechanical, electrical and process engineering. The objective was to serve the technical needs of the industry and to support other sectors such as economy, mining and construction. This newly refurbished centre will go a long way to further address the need of the industry. Its graduates will not only serve in the oil and gas industry but many other sectors as well. For Tullow, this is a true meaning of our saying creating shared-prosperity that always guides our operations” he said

The Regional Maritime University will be accredited by the American Welding Society and its training programmes will be in modules which will accommodate 20 students at a time. The centre is expected to accept its first class of students in July, 2016.

The opening of the Welder Training Centre was preceded with the congregation of the Regional Maritime University.