Petrofund launches flagship scholarship to empower youth in Oil and Gas
Namibia’s Petroleum Training and Education Fund (Petrofund) officially launched its flagship scholarship program during the 2nd Youth in Oil and Gas Summit, reinforcing its commitment to building a highly skilled national workforce for the country’s burgeoning oil and gas sector. The new scholarship complements the Namibian government’s free tertiary education policy by fully funding undergraduate and postgraduate students in engineering, geosciences, paramedics and technical vocational training disciplines relevant to upstream oil and gas operations. Courses will be offered at accredited institutions across the Southern African Development Community region and internationally.
As the voice of the African energy sector, the African Energy Chamber (AEC) commends Petrofund’s leadership and forward-thinking strategy to anchor Namibian youth at the core of the country’s growing energy economy. With major discoveries in the Orange Basin and increasing momentum towards first oil, initiatives like this are essential to ensure local capacity meets international operational standards.
In addition to its flagship scholarship program, Petrofund has introduced several strategic initiatives to accelerate youth integration into Namibia’s oil and gas industry. Through its expanded on-the-job training program, more than 82 young professionals have been deployed across various technical roles in collaboration with premier service and operating companies including TechnipFMC, SBM, Subsea 7, Baker Hughes, Halliburton, SLB, BW Energy, Shell, ReconAfrica, TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy.
“Petrofund is setting the standard for what youth empowerment in Africa’s energy sector should look like. By aligning skills development with industry demand and embracing inclusivity, Namibia is not just preparing its young people for jobs – it’s preparing them for leadership. The Chamber fully supports these efforts, which will ensure that Namibians are not just bystanders, but key drivers of their energy future,” states NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, AEC.
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