KK Security eyes diaspora talent for slice of oil market

KK Security is seeking Kenyan oil and gas experts in the diaspora to steer its new division that offers specialised services to mining companies.

The regional security company will in coming weeks employ 15 technicians currently working in oil and gas firms in the Middle East to train engineers, technicians and artisans on exploration safety.

KK will also build its own pool of specialised workers that it will lease to the oil and gas exploration companies besides providing guards with knowledge of securing facilities and protection of executives. “We are bringing Kenyans in the diaspora back home to build a talent pool that will help KK Security actively participate in the oil and gas market,” said Bill Lay, the head of KK Security’s oil and gas division.

“We are looking at this market to be the next frontier for growth for this company since it is going to be huge,” added Mr Lay, who joined the firm in May from CMC Motors where he served as CEO.

The firm has hired Erick Odongo, a technician who has worked with oil and gas firms in the Middle East, as training manager in the new division. 

The oil division is aimed at helping KK Security to lower its share of revenues from guarding services to about 30 per cent from the current 60 per cent in the mid-term.

The company is targeting foreign interest in petroleum blocks that have surged since British explorer Tullow Oil announced Kenya’s first oil discovery in March.

The find is one in a series of major oil and gas discoveries in East Africa that have made the region more attractive to explorers. But the oil giants face a shortage of specialised staff in the fields of drilling and extraction, a gap that KK Security seeks to plug in partnership with other service providers.

Currently, the bulk of the experts involved in exploration are being shipped in from abroad because of a skills gap in East Africa.
But KK Security is targeting to train and lease certified mid- to low-cadre staff to the oil giants. “Why should the big oil firms like Tullow fly in a certified welder? We should be in a position to offer this,” says Mr Lay, arguing that the mid-level expatriate staff earn between Sh350,000 and Sh400,000  compared to Kenyans in the diaspora that earn between Sh100,000 and Sh200,000.

Major companies

“Kenyan authorities will start demanding that the oil major employ local staff and we want to play in this space,” added Mr Lay.

Kenya has five unlicensed blocks remaining of 46 oil and gas exploration sites as major energy companies race to sign exploration deals.
These firms include France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and US majors Anadarko and Apache.

Smaller players such as Cove, Origin Oil, Pancontinental and Lion Energy, who had dominated Kenya’s prospecting scene for years, have been quietly exiting in recognition of the change in the balance of power in favour of big players who have started drilling.

The establishment of local bases by the foreign firms is boosting the outlook of service providers eyeing the oil and mineral sectors like KK Security and Lonrho-owned Afex, which offers the oil firms accommodation and logistics.

[email protected]