Employment Outlook in Tanzania

The ongoing natural gas discoveries in the country offers promising job prospects for Tanzanians and could provide an impetus for future development and even greater job generation. Different analysts agree that if resources are managed wisely and used to develop other job-intensive sectors, the gas findings will have a very positive impact on the job market and improve Tanzania’s employment outlook. However, publicly available assessments suggest that there is a short supply of Tanzanians who currently possess market-ready skills or job experience related to the industry. Indeed, not many Tanzanians possess the requisite skills to work in the gas exploration, gas extraction, gas processing, and gas transportation sub-sectors. And yet, the direct jobs presently available in the gas industry are very limited and highly competitive. Nevertheless, this does not mean no Tanzanians will be employed in the gas sector, but that inflated expectations should be avoided, including starting to count the chicks before they are hatched.

=Employment in Numbers= As the gas development in Tanzania remains in the early stage, it is extremely difficult to make reliable predictions of how many jobs might be created in the sector. In fact, a preliminary assessment commissioned by BG Tanzania and shared with the Tanzania Government compiled information on the potential direct demand for a typical LNG development and came up with the key result: Tanzanians could benefit from the expanding employment opportunities that the extraction of the natural gas would offer, particularly during the construction phase of a LNG plant. Generally, labour demands differ in different phases of development:

Exploration Phase
To support BG Tanzania’s exploration activities from 2012 to 2013, 33 Tanzanians were employed as BG staff in Dar es Salaam, 355 by contractors based in Dar es Salaam, 72 were employed offshore on the drilling rig and 500 in Mtwara at the supply base. These labour requirements resulted largely from the construction activities at the Mtwara Port as well as the need of drivers and security guards. Additional jobs have been generated in the supply chain to support the direct and indirect roles. Although Tanzanians with different skills were recruited, the bulk of recruited staff was at the craftsman (semi-skilled) and labourer (unskilled) levels.

LNG Development
The planned LNG development is associated with different types of employment opportunities. (1) An LNG development creates direct employment. This refers to staff directly hired by gas companies holding block licences and their first-tier sub-contractors. (2) Indirect employment is labour demand created through gas sector-related activities supply chain as a result of the demand for goods and services that a LNG development consumes. (3) Induced employment, on the other hand, refers to labour demand resulting from the economic stimulus created by the incomes spent by those directly or indirectly employed by an LNG development. The actual labour development associated with an LNG development varies across the development phases, with each phase requiring a different mix of skills. Table 1 provides an overview of the labour demand in different phases.

Table 2 provides an indicative breakdown of the required skills levels and the associated occupation. The data is not disaggregated on the basis of Tanzanian and foreign workers.



As the tables demonstrate, the labour demand will build up and peak during the construction of the LNG plant. During the operational phase, the labour demand would drop and would be maintained throughout that phase until the plant is decommissioned.

=Addressing the skills gap= In 2014, Tanzania’s Minister for Energy and Minerals announced a target of training 300 Tanzanians by 2020 to work in the natural gas and oil sector. These workers shall include lawyers, accountants, auditors and engineers specialising in the sector.

The Vocational Education and Training Authority (VETA) centre at Mtwara is preparing prospective employees in eight key areas that are related to the oil and gas industry: food preparation, plumbing, welding, carpentry, motor vehicle mechanics, electrical installation and maintenance, laboratory assistantship and English language skills. Security is another sector that offers employment opportunities to Tanzanians. As offshore exploration activities progressed, Somali pirate activity picked up, hence forcing exploration companies to invest heavily in security.

For further information on University Training and Vocational Training in Oil and Gas in Tanzania please visit:

University Training in Oil and Gas in Tanzania

Vocational Training in Oil and Gas in Tanzania

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