23
COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
GHANA
BUILDING LOCAL CAPACITY: ZEAL WASTE MANAGEMENT
Safely handling the transportation, recycling, treatment and disposal of industrial waste is
one of the most important services in the oil industry. Kosmos has spent years building the
capability of a young Ghanaian waste management company in developing its business to
support the growing oil industry in Ghana.
Kosmos arranged for Zeal Waste Management to travel to Louisiana for training on vessel
and tank cleaning. As a result, Zeal invested in new equipment and has since provided
tank cleaning services to all the operators in Ghana’s Western Region. The company has
constructed a new integrated waste management facility outside of Takoradi to expand its
used oil recycling and groundwater monitoring capabilities. With additional Kosmos support,
Zeal recently expanded its services to include oil spill assistance and emergency response.
Today, Zeal employs approximately 180 Ghanaians and conducts social investment projects
in the local community. The company has become a premier environmental management
company managing oil and gas industrial waste from eight countries.
Kosmos aims to bring
lasting benefits to the
communities where
we operate... we are
investing in Ghana’s
future.
Sharing Our Success with Local Suppliers
At Kosmos, we aim to maximize the use of
local suppliers wherever we do business so
that our host countries benefit from our
operations. This is an important way we can
contribute to economic and social progress. We recognize that in some instances
this may require a proactive approach to
building the skills of local people to help
suppliers become more competitive.
Supporting Local Content Initiatives
In November 2013, Ghana passed significant local content and local participation
legislation. The legislation focused on delivering two key outcomes: the development
of Ghanaians to fill skilled jobs, and the use
of local goods and services.
Yvonne Paintsil
Yale School of Management
Kosmos Energy Scholar
Kosmos strongly supports local content
in Ghana, as well as in the other countries
where we do business. All of our employees in the Ghana office are Ghanaians,
except for our expatriate country manager. We recognize the strengths of the
proposed regulations and the challenges
they will present to our industry. We are
working with the national Petroleum Commission to address these challenges and
ensure successful local content programs.
We have an ongoing and open dialogue
with authorities in Ghana about our local
content practices and ways we can safely
improve local content at Kosmos in Ghana.
As an active non-operator, we support the
operator’s efforts to maximize local content application in the Jubilee field and the
TEN project.
Investing in People: Training and Leadership Development
In keeping with our support of local content, Kosmos provides professional training to all employees in Ghana. The Ghana-based human resources department
suggests courses and practical training
programs that develop our Ghanaian employees’ leadership potential and positively impact their careers. Last year, Kosmos
sponsored Accra-based employee George
Acheampong’s pursuit of a master’s degree
in Petroleum Engineering at Heriot-Watt
University in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Kosmos also established a merit-based
scholarship at the Yale School of Management to support students from Africa
entering the school’s Master of Advanced
Management program, with a preference
given to students from Ghana. Yvonne
Paintsil, class of 2014, was named the first
Kosmos Energy Scholar. With investments
in scholarships and other programs, Kosmos aims to bring lasting benefits to the
communities where we operate. By helping
to foster Ms. Paintsil’s continued education
and entrepreneurship, we are investing in
Ghana’s future.