Nairobi firm plans oil pipeline welding course to plug skills gap

Kenya’s acute shortage of welders of oil pipeline has opened a window of opportunity for a Nairobi-based firm with plans to start offering three-month courses at a cost of Sh100,000 in January.

People Positive East Africa, a consultancy in oil and gas, is training its officials in Dundee and Angus College in oil-rich Scotland to impart globally accredited skills to Kenyan learners at its school in Nairobi’s Industrial Area.

Graduates will be linked to energy recruitment firms on the continent under an arrangement that entitles them to a monthly salary of at least Sh75,000, according to the company.

The courses on offer include pipeline fabrication and welding engineering.

The plan comes amid skills shortages in the sector that recently pushed the country to ship in about 50 Chinese, Nigerians and Lebanese workers to construct the new Sh43 billion Nairobi-Mombasa refined oil pipeline.

“Our plan is to spread to other parts of the country with more training facilities to offer internationally accredited certification,” the company’s operations director Charles Njendu told the Business Daily adding that the qualifications would sharpen graduates’ competitive edge in the global market.

“This is to prepare them for the opportunities that are set to arise in the oil and gas industry alongside in the growing renewable energy sector.”

The company has partnered with Strathmore University’s Educational Trust to offer the Scottish vocational qualification (SVQ) level three courses.

The Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) said in July that the country has only three specialised pipeline welders, a situation that prompted it to turn to foreigners to construct the petroleum pipeline set for completion in December.

Kenya shipped in about 44 pipeline coaters from Nigeria, according to the KPC.

The short supply of the technicians has been blamed on growing shift of focus among learners towards degree courses perceived to lead to white-collar jobs while snubbing technical and vocational training.

The government has in recent years upgraded several national polytechnics to universities, amid concerns over a shrinking pool of certified technicians.

The KPC said the country is spending over Sh3.6 million monthly on the imported manpower for the pipeline.

To cut the foreign staff costs, the agency in July opened a gas and oil training school at its Morendat facility in Naivasha.

A consortium led by Lebanon’s Zakhem is building the new 20-inch multi-product pipeline to replace the aging existing one, which was constructed by the same company in 1978.

Sections of the existing 14-inch pipeline have suffered major corrosion, leading to partial blockages and inefficiencies.

Demand for technical workers is set to further soar with the planned construction of a Sh210 billion crude oil pipeline from the Turkana oil fields to Lamu Port.