A consulting firm in Guyana is seeking to educate stakeholders on the various employment and business opportunities in the country’s emerging oil and gas sector. Guyana Global Consulting Group (GGCG) will host an information and networking event entitled, “Building Healthy Partnerships and Collaborations in Oil and Gas Operations” on August 30 at the Guyana Marriott Hotel.
The event seeks to empower women and youths by informing them of the various roles they could play within the sector.
Speaking to OilNOW ahead of the session, Chief Executive Officer of GGCG Ms. Fatu Gbedema expressed the belief that oil and gas revenues should be used as a tool for nation-building.
“My lens is from a social development lens. But how do you use oil and gas resources to develop the country to take it to a different level? Building capacities, building competencies, building systems and processes that will make the country run more efficiently and more effectively,” said Gbedema.
Essential certifications for offshore oil and gas workers are expensive and training programs are either limited or in some cases, non-existent in Guyana at this time. Gbedema explained that by incorporating a networking session into the event, participants are given the opportunity to form groups with other persons interested in training.
“What I think is a deterrent for some is the cost of training. If [you’re one of] the average Guyanese making a little over GY$60,000, and you want to get training; Seafarer’s training is almost GY$200,000. Then there’re times when you take the course and you’re still waiting on the certificate. So now you have to think, “how am I going to afford this?” So, automatically you are reducing the access to the average Guyanese… So, the reason we are setting up networks is so people can get numbers, so we can reduce the cost of training,” she said.
Gbedema said Friday’s event, which will be held from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm, is open to all persons who are interested in learning more about jobs, entrepreneurship, and specialized fields within the energy sector. However, to be a successful entrepreneur in an oil and gas economy one must be creative and consider all of the non-oil related businesses that cater to the industry.
“You need to have a diverse skillset that will allow you to function in other sectors apart from oil and gas… There’s catering, there’s painting, there’s landscaping, hospitality; when you look it you see that there is a big pie,” Gbedema pointed out.
The consultant emphasized that local entrepreneurs must offer goods and services at international standards as well as consider investing in internationally recognized certification, such as ISO 9001, if they expect to do business within the sector. She lauded the Center for Local Business Development for helping to fill the training and information void.
Guyana Global Consultancy Group is a management consulting firm with a particular focus on oil and gas. The firm was established in 2018 by Gbedema. Before establishing the firm, she worked for various multinational firms, NGOs, and government agencies including the World Bank, UNICEF, the International Monetary Fund, and the National Oil Company of Liberia.
