Economy

Kenya welders to replace Chinese after Spain exam

welders

The upgrade comes amid skills shortages in the sector that recently pushed the country to ship in about 50 foreign welders. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Ten Kenyan oil pipeline welders will on Friday complete a five-month training in what is expected to ease the skills shortage that forced the country to ship in Chinese, Nigerian and Lebanese workers.

The welders from Kenya Pipeline (KPC) will on Friday sit exams for the international accredited training of pipeline welder in Spain ahead of commissioning of the new Sh43 billion Nairobi-Mombasa pipeline.

The upgrade comes amid skills shortages in the sector that recently pushed the country to ship in about 50 foreign welders.

Global consultancy firm — Accelerate to Excellence (A2E) — was tapped to conduct the training of the welders.

“The 10 will be expected to train other welders to a level where they can handle mega-projects in oil and gas as well as real estate,” said Stephen Kuria, the managing director of A2E, at the ongoing oil and gas conference at the University of Nairobi.

“This is to prepare them for the opportunities that are set to arise in the oil and gas industry and cut reliance on expatriates.”

Kenya is looking for the construction of the 820-km crude oil pipeline between Lokichar and Lamu for exports.

The 10 started their training locally under the guidance of A2E, which provided Australian trainers from its affiliate Australia Africa Energy and Minerals Institute (AAEMI) and backed by the World.

The Kenya Pipeline said before the training, the country had only three specialised pipeline welders, prompting the Lebanese contractor building the Sh43 billion pipeline to outsource.

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