Education opportunities in East Africa (Oil & Gas)
Published 27 October 2014
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1. Market potential
The East African education and training market is a priority market for UKTI Education owing to recent oil and natural gas discoveries in Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda, which offer an unprecedented opportunity for economic development and sustainable growth for the region.
There is significant demand for skilled local workers to work in the fast-developing oil and gas industry in these four countries, but this opportunity for increased employment in the region is hampered by a lack of appropriate skills among the local workforce.
International oil and gas companies active in East Africa are strongly committed to meet their legal obligations to employ local individuals, and to ensure that communities and citizens are able to access the benefits, such as jobs and inclusion in supply chains offered by their investments.
2. Large scale education and training opportunities 2015/16
There are large scale opportunities to improve the quality and relevance of the teaching provided by the technical and vocational education and training institutions in the four countries.
The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) have established the Skills for Oil and Gas Africa (SOGA) initiative, which aims to:
- Address skills gaps in the oil and gas industry and associated sectors in East Africa
- Assist partner governments in preparing their workforces for upcoming opportunities in the private sector
SOGA will be a five year programme, running from 2015 to 2019, and will begin with an inception phase in 2015. The initiative will be implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ).
3. Additional market information
3.1 Economic context
Although poverty is widespread across the region, oil and gas reserves have the potential to transform the economy of each country in the East African region. Tanzania (population: 47.6 million) is one of the poorest countries in the world, though annual GDP growth has averaged 6.7% since 2006, one of the best in sub-Saharan Africa. Tanzania’s mineral wealth has the potential to transform its economy over the next decade. Similarly, Mozambique (population: 24.5 million) has emerged as one of the world’s fastest growing economies, and coal and titanium are a growing source of revenue. Uganda (population: 3.7 million) has commenced economic reforms and oil discoveries have bolstered its economy. Kenya (population: 42.7 million) is the largest East African economy and has East Africa’s largest city, Nairobi.
3.2 Education sector overview
In the past, the people of East Africa have shared a common educational curriculum. This changed after the break-up of the former East African Community (EAC) in 1977. With the re-establishment of the new EAC, there is a renewed commitment to ensure that the common goals and aspirations of the peoples of East Africa are realised through a harmonised curriculum. To facilitate the regional integration process, the EAC partner states have identified the harmonisation of the education curricula, standards, assessment and evaluation of education programmes as a priority. Spending on education as a percentage of GNP has increased in most countries in the region since 1999.