10th October 2013 http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=60232
Swala Energy Limited Foreign companies engaged in extraction and exploration of gas and oil in the country have been advised to form a joint venture with locals so that the latter may directly reap benefits from the resource and put an end to the belief that the indigenous are being exploited.
The remarks were made by Swala Energy Limited, Chief Executive Officer, David Ridge on Tuesday in Dar es Salaam when he was announcing that his company is going to list a portion of its shares in the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) by November this year to allow more Tanzanians to buy shares.
He said if Tanzanians are a part of the shareholders, they will directly benefit from the country’s natural resources. He noted that this way (listing the shares) Tanzanians do have to wait to individually exploit the resources they can be part of the process from the get go.
“Having resources without utilizing them will not bring any profit, however allowing local participation in foreign investments will be lucrative to locals as well,” he said. Ridge cited that almost 50 percent of Swala company’s shares are owned by Tanzanians while 10 percent has been set aside to benefit the local communities around the resources.
However, even though the shares are ready to be bought, no Tanzanian has done so yet, which could mean that there might be little understanding on the share benefits or a misconception that the energy sector is only for foreign investors.
Swala Energy Company has been conducting explorations for four years in Pangani, Lake Tanganyika and other areas in Northern Tanzania and as of now, they are expect only two more years of exploration with drilling set for 2015.
The Energy company boss noted that about 10,000 people are expected to be employed in the company, especially in the initial stages of building the factory’s infrastructures.
However, when the drilling begins, less manpower will be needed according to the nature of the investment and also more machines will be applied when processing the products.
Ridge took the opportunity to mention 10 students that his company is sponsoring at the University of Dar es Salaam who are studying to expertise in the sector because despite oil and gas discovery, the country still has a shortage of experts.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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