Tanzania students head abroad to study oil, gas exploration

Residents protest against the government’s move to pump gas from Mtwara to Dar es Salaam instead of processing it in Mtwara. Tanzania has made discoveries of natural gas and oil in its southern and coast regions, but lacks trained manpower to exploit the resources. File 

By BD CorrespondenT

 

The good news of discovery of natural gas in the southern and coast regions of Tanzania is shifting interest in the type of courses locals are applying to study abroad.

Currently, as the country sees the potential growth and brighter future from the gas and oil sector, many parents who send their children abroad for studies are also making a timely choice for them — wanting them to study courses relating to oil and gas exploration to prepare them for future fortunes.

The shift draws a major line in the perception of the public. In previous years, many students who went abroad opted to study medical and engineering courses.

The apt change of interest comes after last year’s revelation of the discovery of 35 trillion cubic feets of natural gas in Tanzania, making the country one of the future gas producers in Africa.

About 20 per cent of the discovered gas is in Mtwara, one of the poorest regions in Tanzania and the discovery has attracted major foreign players from Europe and China.

One of the agencies dealing with recruiting students to study overseas, Global Education Link (GEL) Ltd, reveals to The Citizen that from last year, most of the Tanzanian students who wished to study abroad opted for programmes on gas and oil exploration engineering.


Abdulmalik Mollel, GEL managing director, says this year his agency has recruited more than 140 students who have chosen to pursue such courses.

This number is equivalent to about 70 per cent of all students the agency has so far recruited in the current year. Last year, GEL recruited 49 students who went abroad to pursue programmes on oil and gas.

Acquiring skills

“Even those who had previously chosen to study other courses, their parents came here and intervened by forcing them to change and take oil and gas engineering courses,” Mr Mollel says.

GEL, which was founded in 2006, facilitates students to apply for studies in different countries. It also deals with transfer programmes to US, Australia and China.

Mr Mollel says for a developing country like Tanzania, it is a positive move to acquire skills from developed countries for emerging discoveries since the country has no experts in the area. “We better train our own people than import experts... and the public should do away with the mindset that studying abroad is a sign of one being corrupt. Rather we should perceive the move as a quest for development,” he argues.

Prime minister Mizengo Pinda invited reputable global companies to invest in Tanzania’s oil and gas sector to boost the country’s economy.

Mr Pinda in South Korea last year when he officiated the naming of the Ocean Rig Poseidon manufactured for deep sea oil and gas exploration in Tanzania’s offshore, said that prospects of oil and gas exploration in Tanzania and East Africa in general, are promising.


The premier said the involvement of Brazilian firm Petrobas in oil and gas exploration in the country is a timely step towards unlocking the strategic potential of the hydrocarbons that have been identified through various seismic and drilling explorations.

“If proven, this potential will present an additional dimension to the planning and development of oil and gas industry in the country,” he said.

Pinda said the government, in collaboration with the private sector oil and gas companies, would deliberate on ways to enhance effectiveness and efficiency in the sector.