President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says Ghana can no longer count on foreign expertise and investments to be able to reap the full benefits of its hydrocarbon resources.
The President observed with worry, a global trend where certain people (foreigners) with the human and financial resources try to suppress the development of hydrocarbon resources in countries such as Ghana.
“If we are really going to develop these resources, we can no longer count on them. We have to count on ourselves,” he said when he met eight students who are being sponsored by the government to study in the field of oil and gas in Canada.
President Akufo-Addo pointed out that the government would continue to support the development of local skills and resources to enable them contribute to the development of the country’s oil and gas industry.
“The news which is very encouraging is the steps which we are taking, through the leadership of the Ministry of Energy and the Petroleum Commission, as much as possible, to be self-sufficient in the management of our natural resources,” he said.
The President described the country’s ability to manage its hydrocarbon industry without relying on foreign expertise and investments as a key aspect of the Ghana Beyond Aid target, adding that “to attain that objective, the skills enhancement of Ghanaians is absolutely critical“.
Beneficiaries of the programme would come back in 11 months to teach in the various technical institutes and, thereby, help develop more people with such skills and expertise, he said.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission, Egbert Faibille Junior, said the beneficiaries were the third batch to train under a specialized programme known as “Becoming a master instructor framework”
“The basis of this is that if you look at the oil and gas industry, almost every engineering aspect or the end product pass through pipes. Unfortunately in Ghana, we do not have pipe fitting as a stand-alone course in any of our technical institutions,” he said.
He said the eight teachers, upon return, would be mandated to introduce pipe-fitting technology alongside with competencies that they were going to obtain in their various institutions.
The eight beneficiaries are Gladys Perpetual Awudi, Wise Klomegah Kwashie, Daniel Kyei-Kankan, Samuel Garriba, Abdul Hamid Mohammed, Isaac Oppong, Frank Nana Osei and Emmanuel Marcus Abaidoo.
BY YAW KYEI