15 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS COMPLETE TRAINING COURSE (PAGE 22, JULY 3, 2010)

A three week capacity training course for 15 electrical engineers and technicians from Liberia, Gambia and Sierra Leone, under the West Africa Power Pool (WAPP) co-ordination has ended at the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Training School in Tema.
This brings to 43 the number of trainees from member countries who have undergone the technician and engineers course designed by WAPP with financial support from the European Union since April, this year.
The training is expected to contribute to the integration of the national electricity companies of ECOWAS member- states.
The participants were taken through transformer and sub-station maintenance, overhead lines and cable network operations and maintenance, distribution system design operation, protection and SCADA management among others.
A representative of the Secretary General of WAPP, Mr Mustapha Zakari Cisse said WAPP in collaboration with the European Union Technical Assistance designed the training modules to address unique problems of the power utilities in the West African sub-region and to contribute to the improvement of performance of the utilities.
He said the training would also create an enabling environment for enhancing regional cohesion through mutual understanding and co-operation among WAPP members.
Mr Cisse commended the EU for its involvement and financial support for the programme.
He also appreciated the Board and Management of the Electricity Company of Ghana for opening up its facilities to other members of the Pool.
Mr Cisse called on the participants to make the investment in them worthwhile by making the greatest impact of their training felt by customers in their countries.
He indicated that WAPP would be justified to approach financiers to provide money to train others for advanced levels of continuous training.
The Head of Infrastructure and Sustainable Section of the Delegation of the European Union in Ghana, Mr Jannik Vaa said the support programme to WAPP started in September 2009 and will run over a period of three years .
He noted that the EU financial assistance amounted to 1.8 million euros which is about GH¢3.24 million and was through the ACP –EU Energy facility.
Mr Vaa said the EU support to the WAPP sought to assist ECOWAS countries to develop electricity production and distribution at regional level and to subsequently strengthen regional integration in West Africa .
He commended the participants and said the EU was encouraged by the training programme for having trained 43 electrical engineers and technicians on three modules with each course running for three weeks.
The WAPP Consultant , Mr Igor Zakharov said based on the success of the programme, French speaking WAPP members had also expressed interest which was an indication that the ECG had the human resource base to impart knowledge to others in less endowed countries.