Over 120 Ugandans to be certified for oil, gas jobs 

OIL     EMPLOYMENY

KAMPALA - Oil and gas operations are governed by strict operational guidelines in order to avoid quality failure, which often leads to environmental degradation, health risks or heavy financial loss.

As a result, employees in the oil and gas industry need to be certified and accredited to undertake specific operations in the various disciplines.

For that matter, the Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum (UCMP) has joined hands in supporting the certification and accreditation of over 120 Ugandans to work in the industry. 

Employment
Elly Karuhanga, the UCMP chairperson, said through this effort, they expect to see improved employability of craftsmen and women.

Karuhanga said the Recognition of Prior Learning Project (RPL) is expected to improve on the quality of workforce available on the Ugandan market. "Companies in the oil, construction and manufacturing sectors will be able to source quality labour locally, thus building the country's economy," Karuhanga explained.

He noted that the overall vision of the project is to increase the domestic pool of internationally certified Ugandans to take up jobs in the oil, gas and related industries. "It will enrich the knowledge and practices of occupational health safety and environment," Karuhanga added.

Training

The UCMP CEO, Catherine Wabomba, said the project will assess and certify beneficiaries to Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) international standards. A hundred of these will be sourced from UCMP and 20 from the informal sector in the selected trades. 

The trades are pipe-fitting, welding, electrical and scaffolding, with a focus on people with prior experience in particular fields. The trainees will also be internationally certified in health, safety and environment.

Wabomba said the implementation of the project will leverage two UCMP members. Assessment and training will take place at two facilities that are managed by Solid Rock Life and Business in Muyenga, Kampala Uganda and SeaOwl Energy Services in Butema, Hoima.

Welding and pipe-fitting trades training will be held at the Solid Rock facility in Muyenga, while electrical and scaffolding trades training will be held at the SeaOwl Energy Services  at Butema.

The training is estimated to take two to eight weeks, depending on the candidates' level of knowledge. The main purpose of RPL will be to identify, assess and certify a person's knowledge, skills and competencies, regardless of how, when and where the learning occurred, against prescribed standards for a part or full qualification.

Wabomba said the project will focus only on the skills that are demanded by the industry and recognised by the Ministry of Education and Sports. about rpl project The RPL project is funded under The Skills Development Facility (SDF) Window4.

SDF is part of the $100m (sh382b) Uganda Skills Development Project (USDP), which is a Government project funded by the World Bank and implemented by the Private Sector Foundation Uganda. The SDF aims at promoting employer-led short-term training in order to address prevailing skills imbalances and shortages in Uganda.

The grant amount won by UCMP is sh865.8m. In addition, UCMP and the implementing partners will contribute 10% of the grant amount. UCMP is expected to run the project for eight months. There is a sustainability plan in place to ensure that the project continues to benefit a wider  group of people even after the initial implementation period.

Oil projects
Current projections show that $10b (sh38 trillion) is the capital expenditure (capex) required to get Uganda's oil projects started. Of this, $2b (sh7.5 trillion) is the projected capex for the development of the King Fisher oil field in Kikuube district, $6b (sh222.5 trillion) for Tilenga project and $3.5b (sh13.1 trillion) for the 1,444km long East African Crude Export Oil Pipeline (EACOP).

TEACOP runs between Hoima in western Uganda to Tanga Port in Tanzania. Tilenga includes eight oil fields in Buliisa and Nwoya districts and will feature about 419 oil wells at full production.    

Promising jobs The Lake Albert Basin Development projects, where oil and gas activities will take place, will generate thousands of direct jobs in Uganda, with a peak of 13,000 workers in the construction phase and a plateau at 3,000 people in the operation phase.

Apart from direct jobs that will be created on site, oil and gas activities will also have a potential to generate 100,000 to 150,000 indirect and induced jobs.