Genser Energy has been praised for giving opportunities to more Ghanaians to work in providing energy solutions to the industrial and mining sectors of Ghana and other parts of Africa.

The independent power producer, serving multinational clients in the industrial and mining sectors, prides itself in people and focuses on hiring locally – over 80% of its staff is Ghanaian.

Genser Energy received high approval ratings from the members of the Energy and Mines Committee of Ghana’s Parliament during a tour of the company’s natural gas power plant, which is providing energy to Gold Fields Ghana Limited’s Tarkwa Mines in the Western Region and the Ejisu Plant Metering Station in the Ashanti Region.

Dr Kwabena Donkor, the MP for Pru East and a member of the committee said, “As one of the key drivers of local content policy, I am very proud of your participation in the midstream oil and gas sector. You are probably the best example of Ghanaian participation in the midstream sector.”

“Genser is the company of the future,” said Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, another member of the committee and a former Energy Minister. “If you are familiar with the Gas Master Plan of Ghana, it’s as if everything that has been envisioned by Ghana, Genser has just picked up and running ahead of everybody.”

In its 15 years of operation, Genser Energy provides summer internship opportunities for undergraduate students from Ghanaian universities, where selected interns have the opportunity to work alongside project engineers and managers in developing existing and new projects. Genser also has a partnership arrangement with the Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO), a non-profit leadership development organization, to recruit National Service Personnel as part of measures to harness their soft and technical skills while building a career.

“It has been a wonderful and admirable journey with Genser. Every now and then there are new opportunities and new things to learn,” Nathaniel Nortey Tetteh, who joined Genser Energy as an intern in 2010 from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and now acting as project manager at the company’s Prestea Gas Plant, said.

“The love for co-workers is admirable and everyone is willing to help, especially the young ones. You’ll never want to miss such an environment because it’s been very great working at Genser. If you want to learn more, the best place for you is Genser because the opportunities are many. The people are loving and very accommodating,” Tetteh said.

For his part, Daniel Ayi, Vice President in charge of Operations at Genser Energy said their aim is to empower indigenous Ghanaians, especially the young ones, in the energy sector.

“Genser is a multinational company with a few foreigners and the rest between 85% to 90% are local engineers. We take the engineers from the universities and train them. Most of our workforce is made up of the youth. We’ve been able to train them to take up certain key positions and with time most of them will graduate to management level,” Ayi said.

“Genser has come to stay and we want to conquer, especially West Africa to push our power to the neighbouring countries. Genser has training opportunities and plans for the youth in particular. We’re aiming to put the image of Ghana on the world map,” he added.

Nana Osae Nyampong VI, the Board Chairman of Genser Energy, said the company is more interested in creating opportunities for young indigenous locals to blaze the trail in a sector dominated by ex-pats. He said once Ghanaians are empowered it holds the key to turning the economic fortunes of the country.

“We are a Ghanaian company, so we look to Ghana for our staff. It’s only when we cannot get, then we look elsewhere for it,” Nana Nyampong VI said.

Genser Energy focuses on providing affordable and reliable energy, and moving toward cleaner sources. It works closely with the government to advance the transition responsibly. The Ghana-based company provides direct and indirect jobs, and also brings in foreign direct investment into the country.