The Total-led Mozambique LNG Project, in partnership with the French Government, will award scholarships to 40 Mozambican students seeking higher education in France, starting in the next European school year.
The Program that Total aims to be sustainable in coming years will have a duration of two to three years and will be open to the public in a wide range of disciplines at bachelor, master and doctorate levels.
Scholarships will be awarded following a rigorous selection process taking into account a range of factors, including diversity of gender, province and background.
“We are pleased with this partnership with the Mozambique LNG project,” said the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, who stressed the importance of training critical mass of young Mozambicans.
“For this reason, we congratulate Total for this approach, which is, in fact, an important and ambitious step in its commitments towards the materialisation of Government plans that prioritise the training of human resources who take part in strategic areas of gas projects in Mozambique.”
For the French Ambassador to Mozambique, David Izzo, “these scholarships, that strengthen the existing training programs and partnerships, testify, once again, the deep cooperation ties existing between France and Mozambique and the importance that public-private partnerships can play in catalyzing the country’s development. We are excited to work with Total to give more young Mozambicans the opportunity to attend some of the most reputable schools and universities in France and to be exposed to other enriching experiences, which will undoubtedly be valuable from an individual point of view and contribute to the country’s development. The future of the country is built with its youth and I am delighted for this new advance, for this concrete step”.
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Ronan Bescond, Country Chair of Total in Mozambique, said: “Consistent with our ambition to become the world’s responsible energy major, Total is very focused on contributing to the development of the countries in which it operates. We have made shared development an integral part of our business model. Closer integration with local communities means we can make a lasting contribution to the economic and social development of our host countries.The training of these young people, who will be able to embrace opportunities in and out of our project in the future, is therefore a fundamental part of this responsibility to contribute to the sustainable development and responds to the commitments established with the Mozambican Government in terms of development of local content ”.
Employment and training are at the heart of Total’s strategy in Mozambique. At the peak of operations in 2019, more than 90% of the construction workforce was Mozambican (5,500 workers out of 6,100), including 20% from Palma District. Beyond the five-year construction period, our objective is to maintain 1,500 long-term positions throughout the production phase. In addition, our training plans are designed to ensure that the skills acquired on this project can be transferred to other projects that extend well beyond the initial development of the Golfinh /Atum natural gas field.
Total E&P Mozambique Area 1 Limitada, a wholly owned subsidiary of Total, operates Mozambique LNG with a 26.5% participating interest alongside ENH Rovuma Área 1, S.A. (15%), Mitsui E&P Mozambique Area1 Limited (20%), ONGC Videsh Rovuma Limited (10%), Beas Rovuma Energy Mozambique Limited (10%), BPRL Ventures Mozambique B.V. (10%), and PTTEP Mozambique Area 1 Limited (8.5%).
About Mozambique LNG project
Mozambique LNG is the country’s first onshore LNG development. The project includes the development of the Golfinho and Atum fields located within Offshore Area 1 and the construction of a two-trains liquefaction plant with a capacity of 13.12 million tonnes per year. The Area 1 contains approximately 65 Tcf of gas resources, of which 18 Tcf will be developed with the first two trains. The Final Investment Decision of Mozambique LNG project was announced on June 18, 2019, and the project is expected to come into production by 2024.
Original article on Club of Mozambique
