LONDON, United Kingdom, November 5, 2015/APO (African Press Organization)/ —
The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID-Kenya) and the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has designed an initiative that will equip local populations with skills needed to seize job opportunities in the oil and gas sector in East Africa. The initiative dubbed Skills for Oil and Gas Africa (SOGA) will focus on Kenya, Uganda Tanzania and Mozambique and will work closely with the private sector and government to deliver support to training institutions, establishing business enterprise development centres and assist local people to win contracts to supply goods and services to the oil and gas industry. The five year project (2015-2019) implemented by GIZ and co-funded by UK aid (£25 million) is expected to help 32,000 local people to get sustainable jobs in the sector over the next five years.
In his opening speech at the SOGA annual regional conference, Mr. Hendrik Linneweber – GIZ country Director Kenya said: “The recent oil gas discoveries in Kenya and Eastern African countries offer an unprecedented opportunity for economic growth and development. In the next two years, the Oil and Gas Industry will have a huge demand of technical skills and there is an urgent need to qualify and prepare these people for future jobs”.
Head of DFID Kenya Ms Lisa Phillips said: “The UK through DFID is committed to ensuring that efforts to promote economic development in East Africa are sustainable and long-lasting. SOGA will assist the private sector and partner governments in preparing their workforce for upcoming opportunities and will ensure that any jobs which are created by the Oil Gas Industry are open and accessible to local people”
An inception phase of the programme was conducted between January and September 2015 in the four countries with the aim of identifying common areas for partnership and collaboration with the private sector and government which would be integrated in the implementation of the programme and national system.
Notes to the editors :
DFID PROFILE
The Department for International Development (DFID) is leading the UK Government’s fight against poverty. The UK Government through DFID is focused on building the skills of local people, ensuring that they are benefitting from the opportunities opened up by new investments in oil and gas.
GIZ PROFILE
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a federally owned organisation mandated by the German Government to achieve its international development objectives in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development. GIZ provides development solutions worldwide and leads operations in Germany and over 130 countries globally. We work at different levels of society with Government, local communities and private enterprises, offering demand-driven, tailor-made and effective services for sustainable development.
