GE to build capacity of students of two varsities
The American power giant, General Electric (GE), is liaising with two Ghanaian universities to build the capacity of students in the oil and gas industry.
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The two beneficiary institutions are the University of Ghana and the Ashesi University College both in Accra.
Consequently, it has committed a total of $3.6m for capacity building of the students in the oil and gas industry in the country.
The University of Ghana will receive $100,000 scholarship package, while the Ashesi University College benefits from a $3.5 million scholarship package.
Benefits
One hundred students of the University of Ghana will benefit from a full scholarship in the area of oil and gas worth $100,000. The scholarship will cover their tuition until they complete their studies.
The Ashesi University College, which signed a $3.5 million Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) deal with the GE through the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), will focus on the area of research and training of professionals in the oil and gas sector at the university college.
The signing was witnessed by GE Global Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Jeff Immelt, who is visiting Ghana.
Through its Oil and Gas University initiative, the GE is working with Ashesi to develop a curriculum applicable to the Ghanaian oil industry.
A scholarship fund will then be made to support students of Ghanaian universities and vocational institutions who are studying Engineering or Oil & Gas related fields.
The CEO of GE Oil & Gas for Africa, Mr Marco Caccavale, disclosed that the collaboration would promote knowledge transfer through GE funded academic scholarships for universities, professional seminars and courses on leadership and technical issues on oil and gas.
Capacity building
The Chief Executive of the GNPC, Mr Alex Mould, said he was delighted to work with GE on a comprehensive plan on capacity building and technology transfer.
He said the GNPC would provide technical input for oil and gas training as well as a number of candidates for training at the oil and gas university.
Beneficiaries
The first beneficiary of the programme, Mr Richard Asmah, an engineer at GNPC, will begin a five-month training programme at the GE Oil & Gas University in Florence.
During the course, candidates will learn managerial and technical information to consolidate their personal background in the oil and gas sector.
Under the agreement, GE and GNPC will also invest in the development, training and financing of small and medium-sized Ghanaian suppliers and service providers to support their potential long-term entry into the oil and gas GE supply chain.
Ashesi contribution
The Founder and President of Ashesi University College, Dr Patrick Awuah, indicated that Ashesi would provide assistance and advice as to how best to achieve the aims of the collaboration and where necessary, make its facilities available to the parties.
He said Ashesi was glad to be at the forefront of the comprehensive initiative that would ultimately help Ghanaians acquire the technical expertise required to manage the growing oil and gas industry.
Role of University of Ghana
Speaking at a cocktail organised in honour of the visiting Chairman of GE, Mr Immelt, the CEO of GE Ghana, Mr Leslie Nelson, hinted that the $100,000 scholarship was part of a broader collaboration between GE and tertiary institutions in Ghana on capacity development.
He said the gesture validated GE’s commitment to human capital development and localising its operations in Ghana.
According to Mr Nelson, training, building skills and technology transfer were key ingredients of GE’s localisation strategy in Ghana and everywhere it engaged in business.
He disclosed plans to provide oil and gas scholarships to train Ghanaians locally and internationally at GE’s Oil and Gas University in Houston, Texas, Florence, Italy, Aberdeen and Scotland.
Target
The scholarship will target students from the Science and Engineering departments.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, said he was excited about the scholarship award to support building a stronger human capital base for the country.
He invited other multinational companies in Ghana to extend similar financial assistance to develop the needed human resource through the universities.
According to Professor Aryeetey, “Human capital remains the most vital resource that any organisation can have and we are glad that GE is placing a great premium on that”.
