Local Recruitment Key to Unlocking Opportunities in Energy Sector

The discovery of significant oil and gas reserves in Namibia’s Orange Basin has the potential to transform the country into the world’s newest petrostate.

In addition, gigawatt-scale green hydrogen and an abundance of renewable energy resources represent significant opportunities.

At the same time, there is a strong drive toward increasing local procurement to maximise economic advantage.

Leveraging opportunity in the energy sector while aligning with government initiatives, compliance requirements and cultural sensitivities can prove challenging for international players.

Localised skills in recruitment and turnkey employment services are essential to successfully driving energy projects and increasing Namibian economic participation.
 
BUILDING SKILLS PIPELINES

Namibia currently has a skills gap in the upstream oil and gas sector, which often means that global companies will import their engineers to work on projects.

However, with the government’s renewed focus on local procurement to create sustainability and address unemployment rates, this has become more difficult.

The government now requires recruiters to prove that they’ve exhausted local possibilities before deploying international resources.

In addition, Namibia is no longer a visa-free destination for many nationalities that could previously easily enter the country in the past.

As a result, it has become more complex to bring in international engineers.

It also doesn’t offer a long-term solution.

The reality is that many local Namibians have the necessary qualifications and accreditations required to work on offshore rigs, but because of a lack of opportunity, many of them have taken up positions elsewhere.

The focus needs to shift from simply importing resources to repatriating skills through creating opportunities, and in creating skills transfer to build a pipeline for future growth.

Many positions in the burgeoning oil and gas sector don’t require a high-level technical background, making them ideal for local employment.
For the more specialised roles, local resources may lack the specific experience requirement.

SKILLS AND SUSTAINABILITY

However, for longevity and sustainability, there needs to be a plan in place to develop skills transfer so that these positions can be taken up by Namibians in the future.

Having a local turnkey employment service provider can help to ensure that skills are found and matched from closeby wherever possible.

Where skills need to be imported, they will ensure that due process is followed and that all local statutory payments are made to ensure compliance.

They will also handle contract placement, placements, salaries, payments, benefits administration, and other employment-related tasks, effectively taking on the entire employment function and providing a single invoice to the company every month.

At the same time, they can provide Namibians with a way into the projects with appropriate accreditations and qualifications and facilitate the necessary skills transfer.

They can also assist with training and upskilling the youth to take advantage of future opportunities, bringing them up through the ranks, helping them to gain experience and skills, and effectively creating a local talent pipeline.

This addresses the immediate need while ensuring long-term upliftment and sustainability.

– Julien Karambua, country manager for Workforce Staffing Namibia