Anyway listen to this - Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown has revealed that the Eskom Power Plant Engineering Institute (EPPEI) will collaborate with six local universities, in an attempt to harness critical skills in the industry. Hmmmm that's promising!
While speaking at the signing ceremony for this new project, Brown said the African continent had growing infrastructure needs further adding that governments throughout the continent were allocating significant amounts of money to that growth.
However, it has become increasingly apparent to all and sundry that the region might not have the necessary capacity to sustain that development and growth. That is where the relationships with the top local universities will be so crucial.
“It is only through collaborative partnerships that Africa can find solutions,” said Brown this week.
“I congratulate Eskom and the University fraternity for embarking on this programme that provides a critical pipeline for South Africa’s energy industry,” added Brown.
According to Brown infrastructure spend in Africa could be in the region of $180 billion per annum by 2025. The figure in 2014 is $70 billion per year.
“To fulfil these infrastructure requirements for economic development, the continent has to fill the gap for engineers,” said Brown this week.
“Currently, Africa would have a gap of 4.3 million engineers if the continent were to implement all its flagship projects, according to the Africa Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF). This may impact Africa’s ability to execute critical initiatives.
Gear yourself for the energy industry folks. Behold, it is booming.
