The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is supporting the University with One million dollars to create a research chair in Petroleum Commerce at the Institute for Oil and Gas Studies.
This support is aimed at enhancing cooperation between academia and industry.
The deal was officially sealed with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two institutions. Under the MoU, GNPC will commit an amount of $250, 000 dollars for the next four academic years to support the activities of the Chair.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah signed on behalf of UCC, whiles the Chief Executive of GNPC, Dr. K. K. Sarpong appended for the Corporation.
The scope of activities of the Chair include the establishment of technical partnership with leading universities and industry leaders within and beyond the African continent. Also, the chair is expected to establish teaching and learning exchange programmes with partner universities as well as engaging industry to establish state-of-the-art research laboratory in Petroleum Commerce at UCC.
The Chair will develop and coordinate graduate level programmes in Petroleum Commerce and related fields at UCC and also train two PhDs in Petroleum Commerce. In addition to this, the chair will coordinate the setting up of a Centre of Excellence in Ghana and Africa to produce world-class professionals in the field of commerce to provide innovative solutions to the mining and petroleum industries.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, expressed gratitude to GNPC for partnering the University to strengthen petroleum commerce research and education capacity in Ghana. “We are excited that you have come to campus for us to sign this important MoU that will help the University to contribute meaningfully towards the petroleum industry,” he noted.
Prof. Ampiah said UCC would leverage on its human resources capacity to provide the needed services to boost petroleum trade in the country and beyond. He assured that the University was ever willing to partner GNPC to achieve its objective of setting up the fund and also produce top-notch graduates with specialisation in all aspect of the petroleum industry
The Vice-Chancellor also said UCC had plans of establishing a School of Governance and Law to strengthen the governance system of corporate institutions which according to him would also be of immense benefit to the petroleum industry. He seized the opportunity to call on GNPC to support the University in putting up structures for the new School.
On his part, the Chief Executive of GNPC, Dr. K. K. Sarpong, said GNPC was committing the amount into the University with the sole aim of producing Ghanaian experts in the petroleum value chain. “We want Ghanaians to fully take charge of the petroleum sector of this country. We need to train the next generation to fully take charge of petroleum business in this country,” he explained.
Dr. Sarpong called on the University to make judicious use of the money invested into the establishment of the Chair to achieve the objectives of the MoU signed between the two institutions. He said GNPC would not hesitate to fund other activities of the University if this project was successful.
Present at the signing ceremony were the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. George K. T. Oduro; Registrar, Mr. John Kofi Nyan; Provost, College of Humanities and Legal Studies, Prof. Dora Edu-Buandoh; Provost, College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, Prof. L. K. Sam-Amoah; Provost, College of Health and Allied Sciences, Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong; Director, Institute for Oil and Gas, Prof. Joseph Aggrey-Fynn.
Other officers accompanying the Dr. Sarpong were Ms. Matilda Ohene (Board Secretary, GNPC); Dr. Patrick Ofori (Manager, Sustainability) ; Mr. Yaw Kyei (Board Member),Dr. Kwame Baah-Nuakoh (General Manager, Sustainability) and Joseph Dadzie (General Manager, Commercial).