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‘Stalled FIDs, projects increasing level of idle human capacity in oil industry’

By Femi Adekoya
18 October 2019   |   4:16 am
Stakeholders in the oil and gas sector have raised concerns about the level of idle human capacity in the industry, noting that no project has been sanctioned since the completion of the Egina project by Total.

Stakeholders in the oil and gas sector have raised concerns about the level of idle human capacity in the industry, noting that no project has been sanctioned since the completion of the Egina project by Total.

Precisely, the Summit Director, Africa Oil & Gas Talent Summit (AOGTS), Emmanuel Emielu, said policy inertia is part of the reasons no project has been approved by international oil companies, hence leaving so much human capital idle.

Emielu is also worried about Nigeria’s inability to train its youths with requisite skills needed in the global value chains, especially as new technologies and innovations are unveiled daily.

To address this trend, he said the upcoming AOGTS seeks to explore measures to address such challenges by partnering with relevant stakeholders and institutions to improve the quality of learning in the oil and gas industry.

“The abundance of people does not necessarily mean availability of human capital. It is therefore no surprise, that Africa’s oil sector is heavily challenged with human capacity, skills and expertise to deliver the needed innovation, agility and creativity.

“This is why the focus for this year’s event is on how to expedite the transformation of Africa’s ‘abundant people’ into ‘abundant human capital’, for a sustainable Africa oil and gas sector,” he explained.

Emielu added that the summit was started in 2015, to provide a pan-African platform for prioritising the human capital discourse in Africa’s oil and gas industry, and as a necessary complement to the other events focused on technology, policy and finance.

“It is people that put technology, policy, and finance to work,” he said.

On the need to address the skills gap and quality of education received by youths, he said a key factor to be considered is the institutional capacity of educational outfits training the youth, adding that the quality of training by many of the tertiary institutions is very low and this affects the quality of labour force seeking opportunities.

“We are collaborating with OGTAN and NCDMB to address the issues of skills gap in the industry because a huge population does not necessarily mean human capital. This reinforces the need for the country to develop its human capital in order to be able to export values,” he added.

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