The fifth university essay contest award winner Inda Guambe, Zambeze University, has highlighted some significant points from the essay on how to promote local content within communities on the first day of the Mozambique Gas Virtual Summit (28-29 October)
The essay topic was how the oil and gas industries can contribute to the development of local content within communities.
Stressing that the local content prioritisation will increase along with the demand, Guambe outlined some points from her essay on the local content promotions and boosting the country’s economy.
According to her, training of human resources for the involvement in local companies is crucial as training involves the acquisition of knowledge, abilities and attitudes that will add value to boost performance contribute to the company’s productivity and generate the gross income of the country.
She said that an increase in national income and employment is also essential for the development of local communities. The unemployment rate of Mozambique is 25.04%, and according to her, with a correct application for local content, the employment index will increase in a particular area or district in the country. The country’s national income is thus increased because employing local content reduces the net income being flown out of the country.
Additionally, according to her, creating partnerships and joint ventures (JVs) with local companies encourage the bond and shared relationships between the companies and promote the use of local goods and services. Qualification of labours is another critical area. As the company’s productivity depends more in the labour force the company has, it is of utmost importance to educate the labours to ensure a product with quality, reduce the loss of raw material and increase income. Guambe further added that maximising the local economy by encouraging the acquisitions of labours, goods and services in a particular community inside the country also adds significant value to the local content development.
Finally, the country’s educational institutions can play a significant role in the promotions of local content. The institutions can support by providing advanced technologies, introducing relevant courses, advancing the laboratories and providing scholarships to needy and bright students.
