The inauguration signifies the completion of the  first phase of the project, at a total cost of $2.2 million, under the Oil and Gas Capacity Building Project (OGCBP) of the World Bank (WB) and the Government of Ghana (GoG).

The KIMTECH project entailed the purchasing of mechanical, welding and fabrication equipment at a cost of $I million, while $1.2 million was also used to refurbish existing facilities on site into mechanical, welding and fabrication workshops.

Phase two

Phase two of the project consists of the procurement and installation of electrical, electronic, hydraulics and overhead crane laboratory equipment at a cost of $759,000, while installation, testing and final handover of the project is scheduled to come off by the end of March 2017.

 In his address, Mr Buah, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ellembele Constituency, explained that a curriculum had also been developed for the teaching of mechanical, welding and fabrication courses while trainers in those disciplines were receiving competency training in the use of the curriculum.

He indicated that an agreement had been reached for the construction of a new building to house the equipment at an estimated cost of GH¢1.3 million and added that the contract was expected to be signed soon.  

 Local content

The minister said the local content and participation in oil and gas activities had achieved steady progression over the years and indicated that in terms of direct jobs, approximately 7,000 people, made up of 5,590 Ghanaians and 1,350 expatriates, had been employed in the upstream sector.

He said out of the 474 companies registered with the Petroleum Commission, 321 were indigenous companies, adding that contracts worth over $I billion were awarded to indigenous companies from 2010 to 2015.

He said as part of the government’s initiative to strengthen local technical skills in Ghana’s oil and gas sector, the OGCBP was established in 2011 to support the Kumasi Technical Institute (KTI) and other selected vocational and technical training institutions in the country.