The University of Ghana (UG), Legon is holding discussions with oil companies in the country for the training of the requisite human resource for the sector. While some programmes in relation to the oil sector have already been approved by the University Council, others are being planned for, in close collaboration with the industry. The Dean of the Engineering Faculty of the UG, Professor Samuel Sefa-Dedeh, said this in his keynote address at the opening of a two-day workshop, organized by the alumni of the International Management of Resources and Environment (IMRE) MBA programme of the TU Bergakademie Freiberg University. Faculties and departments of UG are also collaborating closely for the running of courses due to the inter-disciplinary nature of the oil industry. "The recent discovery of oil in the country has added another important material resource that needs to be better harnessed for sustainable development," he said in his presentation on "Oil Ghana: Challenges and the Way Forward." To achieve sustainable development of oil in the country means harnessing scientific, technological and human values in implementing all economic and social activities with regard to ensuring the well-being of current and future generations. Prof. Sefa-Dedeh said the concept of sustainable development has embedded within principles of social, economic and environmental considerations. He stressed the importance for a knowledge economy within the oil sector to enable smooth operations, and therefore the need for all to be knowledgeable about the industry. The knowledge economy includes research and education, human resource development, and information sharing and dissemination. Prof. Sefa-Dedeh noted some challenges that the oil discovery has brought up. These included a dearth of human resource skills and infrastructure, and the failure to address them would mean the employment of expatriate staff in the sector sometime to come. What is needed to be done, therefore, is to harness scientific, technological and human values to implement economic and social activities in the sector, and civil society organizations, research institutions, universities and the government all had roles to play. The Country Director of DAAD, the German Academic Exchange Service, Dr Heike Edelman-Okinda, said professionals are critical in achieving sustainable development of the sector. So far, 177 Ghanaians, she added, have been funded by DAAD to pursue higher education studies, making Ghana the fifth of 44 African countries to receive funding. The Chair of Environmental and Resources Management, TU of Bergakademie Freiberg, Prof. Dr Jan Bongaerts, disclosed that his university is in discussions to set up academic and professional courses in environmental and resource management at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). Source: Daily Graphic