Education is an opportunity, says Shell Tanzania

Shell has invested quite significantly in the social investment activities especially in the higher education and institutional capacity building programs. About Sixty eight young Tanzanians benefited from the Shell higher education scholarship program in engineering and other oil and gas related courses. 

Frank Marealle, a Shell Tanzania Alumni, who studied chemical engineering at Northern Eastern University in the United Kingdom, and currently employed by Shell Tanzania, is loudly proud of his sponsors. Frank admits he had better options to work outside the country but preferred to seek opportunities back home.

"I sincerely thank Shell Tanzania for this massive opportunity in my life and I love my country, that is why I decided to return home to support my country in gas exploration and development" Marealle told the Alumni event in Dar Es Salaam.

Marealle encouraged his fellow alumni who are still not employed to be persistent and aggressive in searching for employment by using internet and other innovative media outlets, where job opportunities are often advertised.

According to him, there are signs of a slowing job market in the global oil and gas industry, simply because of falling oil prices which have also affected Tanzania.

He insisted that graduates in oil and gas sector should also venture into other opportunities, keeping an eye of out for available job openings in oil and gas sector.

Neema Mwasha, is another Shell Tanzania trained alumni, currently working with what was until a few days ago the Ministry of Energy and Minerals (MEM) who also thanks Shell Tanzania for making her scholarship possible.

A geologist by profession, Neema is interested in seeing Tanzania benefits more from oil and gas sector and would like to be part of this success story.

“This is what convinced and encouraged me to abandon my well paying job in a private company to work with our Government. To me, this is an opportunity made in heaven” she said.

Miranda Naiman, a Dar Es Salaam-based tenacious organisational development practitioner addressed the Shell Tanzania alumni as well, motivating them to improve their employability and entrepreneurial skills for their presence and future lives.

Miranda asked Shell alumni to prepare Tanzania’s future generation by addressing challenges they face in life through deployment of working opportunities.

When invited to address the gathering, Shell Tanzania Managing Director Mr. Marc den Hartog said the company was committed to fully working with the Government of Tanzania to find the most cost effective and efficient way to develop a multi-billion-dollar Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project. He explained LNG means taking natural gas and cooling it from the gaseous state to liquid form (at about -160 degrees Centigrade) so that it can be easily transported to different global markets. The Tanzania LNG project is at a planning stage requiring multiple agreements between the International Gas companies (IOCs) and the Government. .

"We shall work exceedingly hard to make sure that we place Tanzania on the global oil and gas map by exploiting all possible opportunities" he said, adding that his company had already invested over 2 billion US dollars in gas exploration and other related activities.

Despite such huge spending, he said, more investments were still needed before entering into proper Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant  development.

Alumni interviewed after the event thanked Shell Tanzania for bringing them together and ponder ways of cooperating and each other in their professional tasks.