The Forum of the Directors of Oil and Gas Training and Vocational Education Institutes of the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO), had appointed Folashade Adekeye as the chairperson.
Adekeye, who is the director of the NNPC Academy, took over from the former chairperson, Abdelkader Guenone, the managing director of the Algerian Petroleum Institute (API), during the second meeting of the forum in Abuja at the weekend.
The new chairperson of APPO, who heads the NNPC’s oil and gas training arm, brings on board over 30 years of experience and is expected to work with her colleagues from APPO member countries in order to foster more collaboration towards addressing the challenges of competences, skill gaps, infrastructure, and poor funding in the organisation’s training institutions.
Earlier in his keynote address at the opening ceremony of the meeting, the group chief executive officer of NNPC Ltd, Mele Kyari, represented by Inuwa Danladi, executive vice president (Business Services), harped on standardised educational and training approaches to meet the changing demands of the oil and gas industry.
APPO’s secretary general, Dr. Omar Ibrahim, charged the member countries to work towards further enhancing collaborative efforts to establish oil and gas centres of excellence across the African continent, a statement by the NNPC Ltd chief corporate communications officer, Olufemi Soneye, indicated on Sunday.
Dr. Ibrahim, also from Nigeria, said having good knowledge of the Forum’s challenges would enable APPO Member Countries to make recommendations and provide solutions in areas such as oil and gas project funding, technology adoption, and the formation of the Africa Energy Bank.
He said such collaboration by all member countries will guarantee Africa’s energy accessibility, affordability, and sustainability, which overall will strengthen her economies and bring prosperity to its citizens.
