(Business in Cameroon) - Cameroon is currently moving to elaborate a strategy for the sustainable development of human resources in the local hydroelectric sector. In that regard, the Ministry of Water and Energy recently issued a call for expression of interest inviting consulting firms interested in helping develop the strategy to submit their offers.

The selected firm will elaborate a curriculum of courses covering the whole hydroelectricity value chain, identify the current training gap and future needs in the local electricity sector. It will also lay out a 20-year human resources development plan for the sub-sector.

This project is launched in the framework of the technical assistance Project for Hydropower Development on the Sanaga River, backed to the tune of €25 million (close to XAF15 billion) by the World Bank. It is being launched because soon, the country will have a high need for human resources in the hydroelectricity sector. Indeed, from 2012 to date, the country has commissioned three dams (the Lom Pangar, Memevé’éle, and Mékin dams namely). A fourth one (the 420MW Nachtigal dam) able to boost the country’s energy generation capacity by 30% is currently under construction.  

Also, the government’s roadmap provides for the construction, in the coming years, of dams on the Sanaga river that accounts for 75% of national hydroelectricity potential.

 "The planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of such infrastructure requires specific skills," says an official from the Ministry of Water and Energy while explaining why such a strategy is being developed.

According to a human resources expert, the strategy will not only limit skills imports but will also reduce maintenance costs (because such expensive contracts are usually outsourced to foreign contractors) and guarantee the infrastructures are effectively maintained.

BRM