Members of the Association of Small Scale Industries (ASSI) in the Nzema East Municipality of the Western Region say they have not been adequately educated on the various processes in oil exploration.

The association is made up of plumbers, carpenters, welders, painters, electricians, haulage handlers, caterers, beauticians, among others. According to them, they were not fully aware of the dynamics in the oil and gas industry.

“We understand more wells are being developed. That sounds great for mother Ghana. Our communities and in fact Ghana as a whole have been made to expect that the oil find will be the solution to our economic problems,” they noted.

They stated, “We had expected, right from the start of exploration in 2007 that unimaginable decent jobs and business opportunities were going to be available in the country.” This was contained in a press statement issued by the association and signed by its Chairman, Lawrence Luro.

The statement added the members expected that fishermen and fishmongers would be properly introduced to alternative livelihoods. “Perhaps ignorance played a major role in these ‘wild’ expectations. Little did we know that challenges such inadequate skills, low access to capital, among others, could eclipse the emergence of our local business from seeing economic progression in the current oil economy”.

They pointed out that through a recent research work supported by STAR Ghana, the members of the association identified to some extent the business opportunities in the oil and gas supply chain. “Now we have understood the procurement process,” they stated.

“It is time we give attention to capabilities of our businesses else the local content policy will serve no purpose in the country,” the statement added. The members expressed their readiness to put together a database of all existing and start-up businesses in Nzemaland and organise themselves to offer the needed support services to operators in the oil and gas sector.