Tullow Ghana Limited, in partnership with Accenture, held a graduation and awards ceremony last week to recognise and honour successful participants of the Tullow Supply Chain Academy Programme.
Seventy-four companies and 11 individuals were awarded Certificates of Achievement upon successfully completing a 50-hour target mark for graduation. Five outstanding awards went to: Arthro Senergeio, Petroleum Commission- Ghana, Africa World Airlines Limited, Sea Serve Ghana Limited and Owusu-Ankomah, Arvoh Mensah, Dzigba & Associates.
In her opening remarks, Cynthia Lumor-Deputy Managing Director, Tullow Ghana, emphasised Tullow’s commitment to ensuring local supplier development in the oil and gas industry through the various supplier development programmes.
“One of the primary goals of our local content strategy is to build local capacity and develop successful suppliers who can deliver a wide range of goods, services and skills to international standards. Supplier development has therefore been an effective means by which we have consistently increased Indigenous participation in our operations.”
She congratulated all participants on the record time in which they completed the course, and recounted how Tullow’s supplier development initiatives since inception in 2010 have improved the quality and quantity of local businesses’ bid-submissions and contracting.
Tullow has over the years set up different local content initiatives to equip indigenous suppliers with requisite international standard skills in the upstream oil and gas industry of Ghana.
A representative from Accenture, Shiksha Benimadho, recognised the efforts being made by Tullow Ghana and the Petroleum Commission to deliver effective supplier development programmes. She commended the zeal and determination demonstrated by all participants during the course, saying: “In times of economic downtime, you are out there making waves and being part of the solution. Keep your final goal and destination in mind and your path will always be different. Celebrate your wins, no matter how big or small they are”.
She concluded by commending the Tullow team for investing in creating sustainable livelihoods and building local capacity in its supply chain system.
Since the inception of its operations in Ghana, Tullow Ghana has always believed that the energy sector can be a key driver of the economy and an engine for job creation, and this has been one of the driving forces behind Tullow Ghana’s continuous investment and capacity development in Ghana.
Tullow Supply Chain Academy was launched in April 2022. The Academy provides a 12-month customised training programme for indigenous companies. The programmes are delivered with support from the industry network, academic experts and Accenture as the implementing partner. Participants undergo training in five curriculum pillars comprising finance, supply chain, digitalisation, cyber, and power skills. The first cohort of 90 participants was made up of 11 Petroleum Commission employees, 30 companies nominated by the Petroleum Commission and 49 from indigenous companies that are part of Tullow’s supplier base.
Tullow also recently delivered two innovative supplier development initiatives last year – in June 2022 and November 2022 – whereby Tullow Ghana concluded a 10-month-long Supplier Finance Readiness Programme and a 6-month-long Tullow Supplier Mentorship Programme respectively.
The Supplier Finance Readiness Programme implemented by Invest In African (IIA) was designed to provide selected suppliers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with financial and business advisory support to build financially resilient and sustainable businesses for the future.
A total of 151 suppliers gained knowledge of various funding options as well as insights into financial restructuring opportunities. Thirty-six businesses received one-on-one business advisory services. The Tullow Supplier Mentorship Programme was held in collaboration with Accenture. The programme provided customised mentorship support to 100 local companies and individuals. Both programmes achieved a record 97 percent completion rate.
These initiatives demonstrate Tullow Ghana’s commitment to growing and partnering with key stakeholders to develop local capacity in the oil and gas sector through tailored training programmes and engagements.
