Africa economy
Oil project: Uganda wants to build its sectors [1/4]
Audio 02:25
The site under construction where the future crude oil processing unit will be held, near the village of Buliisa, July 16, 2022. © Charlotte Cosset / RFI
By: Charlotte Cosset Follow
3 mins
On April 12, Uganda and TotalEnergies signed the definitive agreements for the Lake Albert oil project.
A major project that includes the extraction of oil, its processing and its export via a pipeline of more than 1,400 kilometers.
Major projects that Uganda intends to take advantage of to train specialists in the sector and build its industries.
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From our special correspondent, back from Buliisa, Uganda
Soon, in Bulissa will be held the “industrial zone” of the Tilenga project.
Civil works have started.
Didier Klejnowski is the head of construction at TotalEnergies.
In the specifications: the employment and training of Ugandans.
He explains :
“In Uganda, they have excellent skills, typically in civil engineering, so we had absolutely no difficulty in finding very competent staff.
Today it's about 90-10, 90% Ugandans to 10% foreigners.
It will be reduced when we attack the CPF.
Typically for welding, even if we will have Ugandans whom we will train in pairs with people of various and varied nationalities on welding, instrumentation, telecoms, on the CVs we are asking for today, it there are certain positions that require 10-15 years of experience in the
oil and gas industry
.
So these people who will come from outside are essentially people who have "
oil and gas"
skills that you don't find in Uganda today.
»
A particularly important point for the authorities.
According to them, the preparatory work should create 100,000 direct or indirect jobs.
But even more important for Joseph Kobusheshe of the oil authority, it is a question of creating real
oil and gas
know-how in Uganda.
“
We want to build a workforce in the oil and gas industry so that no matter what oil industry there is a Ugandan there who is working at a middle or high level.
So the oil and gas industry gives us an opportunity to export quality labor because we're going to develop the right skills and we're going to export them
,” says Joseph Kobusheshe.
Human fallout.
And more broadly, on the ground, the actors rely on the organization of the sector, as explained by Tom Joseph Mukasa.
He is the managing director of PEARL, a subcontractor of TotalEnergies.
He has already changed his way of working:
“
Today, we no longer think that we have to acquire a lot of machines to be selected in calls for tenders.
We have learned not to touch our capital.
You have to work with partners and the supply chain has to be available.
»
When asked if the supply chain in Uganda is working well, he replies:
“
More or less, in any case, it is she who feeds us today.
We would like it to be better organized.
That we can rent equipment at an affordable price.
Because we face the challenge of high costs.
But it is organized.
»
PEARL, like other companies, has been working on oil projects in Uganda since the 2010s. They claim to have gained know-how and obtained different contracts in other sectors thanks to this experience.
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Economy Africa
Economy
Uganda
Raw materials
Oil