The National Oil and Gas Symposia by Makerere University aim at developing and furthering research in the discipline at the higher institution of learning.
Barnabus Nawangwe, the vice chancellor of Makerere University, speaking at the inaugural symposium themed Potential Contribution of Oil and Gas Sector to the Economy, held at College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS) on 2nd July 2020, noted that much as they recognize Uganda Petroleum Institute Kigumba as the pioneer institution in the country training technical staff required to run the oil and gas sector, there is need to train researchers in the industry.
He noted that researchers would provide the much-needed insight into how best the oil and gas sector in Uganda can be a stimulus for economic development.
Makerere University, ranked the fifth best institution of higher learning in Africa as of 2020, prides itself in the cross-disciplinary research potential developed over the years. Last year government of Uganda extended the institution special funding to a tune of Shs30 billion under the Research and Innovation Fund to support high impact research.
Nawangwe shared that the University Council had just approved the new Makerere University Strategic Plan (2020-2030), whose main thrust is to make the institution more research intensive.
“Government has invested heavily in Makerere University over the years and it is only proper that we give back, he said in his remarks.”
He noted that Makerere University introduced a Bachelor of Science Programme in Petroleum Geo-science and Production in 2009 following the discovery of commercially viable oil reserves in 2006, and a Master’s Programme in the same field in 2012.
Further, the University in 2019 partnered with the China University of Petroleum to co-establish and operationalise the Institute of Geo-science and Petroleum at Makerere.
“We have staff and students currently being trained in China as a result of this partnership” he said.
Professor Eria Hisali, principal, CoBAMS, noted that whereas it provided a great platform for various stakeholders and the public to discuss present and future prospects of the oil and gas sector in Uganda, there was need for an in-depth discussion of the day’s various topics namely; Farm-downs, Farm-ins, Farm-outs; Final Investment Decisions (FID) and Uganda’s Economy; Governance and Local Content Issues in the Oil and Gas sector; and Environment and Social Issues pertaining to the Oil and Gas Industry.
“I urge the academia to take time and follow-up today’s event with detailed research and analysis of these topics in collaboration with the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Civil Society Organisations and other players in the oil and gas industry.”
As Uganda prepared to embark on exploration and development of the oil and gas sector, the old laws of 1985 governing the sector had to be revised to guide the ensuing activities and to date, a number of people have been sent for further studies and training both home and overseas to embark on a processes aimed at building a multi-disciplinary human resource capacity to manage the sector.
From the onset of oil exploration, in a bid to develop the human resource capacity required for the sector, Uganda has had to depend on foreign experts working in various oil companies that have ventured here.
Clovis Bright Irumba, manager of exploration at the Petroleum Authority of Uganda, said at the National Content Conference early this year that the Authority has designed a succession policy where Ugandans take over from expatriates working with oil companies after expiry of their tenures as a strategy to build local capacity.
“Geo-scientists are being mentored through internship. Oftentimes, exploration companies that eventually farm-down or farm-out their interests lack the capacity to set up in-country offices; however, they are required to share their data with the PAU.
“We get a lot of requests from institutions for placements of students doing Geo-science studies and these interns get to familiarize themselves with this data. They eventually get jobs in the technical departments of the in-country offices of these oil companies when they eventually build capacity and we also follow up to ensure they get to replace these expatriates through succession plans,” he said.
Since the discovery of commercial reserves in 2006, a number of privately-owned institutions have come up to offer oil and gas related courses, while established one have included an array of inter-disciplinary courses to their curricular.
The pioneer oil and gas institution, UPIK, has since gone strides in training technical personnel for the sector and plans are in high gear to open up to local artisans who wish to acquire certification in different fields of welding and fabrication, among others.
By Robert Mwesigye
Edited by Muhumuza Didas