GOVERNMENT has appealed to Norway to help local professionals acquire essential skills in the development of the oil and gas sectors.The call was made by energy and minerals minister, Prof Sospeter Muhongo, during talks with the Norwegian Ambassador to Tanzania, Ms Hanne-Marie Kaarstad, who paid a courtesy call to ministry’s head office in Dar es Salaam.
Senior officials of the ministry, who included deputy permanent secretaries, Dr Juliana Pallangyo and Prof James Mdoe, also attended the meeting. Other officials came from institutions under the ministry -TANESCO, State Mining Corporation, Geological Survey of Tanzania and Tanzania Minerals Audit Agency.
Prof Muhongo told the Norwegian envoy that the new gas sector needs more experts as the government has been sending its personnel abroad for studies in the oil and gas sectors in countries such as Scotland and Europe.
“We still have a great need for more lecturers with PhDs in oil and gas to teach at university level so as to produce more experts to work in companies engaged in oil and gas,” he said.
He said the government has started university courses in oil and gas at the University of Dar es Salaam and the University of Dodoma. On electricity power supply, Prof Muhongo said the situation looks bright because of government strategies to ensure Tanzanians enjoy reliable power.
He said the government through the Rural Energy Agency (REA) has been providing power to rural areas and subsidy to hydro power plants. He appealed to Norway to help REA distribute electricity to majority people in the rural areas, who constitute a higher percentage of the country’s labour force.
Prof Muhongo also touched on challenges facing the state-run TANESCO which include aged machinery that need frequent maintenance, improper management of water sources for power production. The Norwegian envoy said her government will continue collaborating with Tanzania in the development of oil and gas industries.