Sahara pledges investment in capacity building

The management of Sahara Power has restated its commitment to sustained human capital development investment in Nigeria’s power sector to ensure enhanced productivity and seamless skill transfer.

An affiliate of Sahara Group, a leading African energy conglomerate, Sahara Power comprises of Egbin Power Plc, Ikeja Electric (IE) and First Independent Power Limited (FIPL). The company and  its technical partner, Korea Electric Corporation (KEPCO) are currently implementing a transformation plan across these power entities that is shoring up power generation and distribution in Nigeria.

Speaking at a strategy session tagged “Human Capital Development in Nigeria’s power Sector”, the Managing Director, Sahara Power,   Kola Adesina, said positive  outcomes from the firm’s Graduate Engineering Programme has set the foundation for increased funding to drive sundry capacity building initiatives in the organisation.

Adesina noted that the programme would help address the gulf created by an ageing workforce in the sector. Industry experts say the dearth of young engineers and technical staff remains a huge challenge for the sector that needs about 50,000 young skilled engineers, craftsmen and fitters to replace the ageing workforce – according to a recent report released by the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN).