The roots of local content issues – skills and local businesses
- 17 January 2025
- Posted by: Trudi Stevens
- Category: energy excellence
Of all the moving parts that make up a Local Content vehicle, skills and local businesses are the most important because they are the foundations of every nation’s economy, growth and governance. Research has established the clear impact of education on poverty and economic growth. A paper by UNESCO (UNESCO, 2017) describes the links like this:
Economic growth reduces poverty and employment creation is proven to be the most effective way to reduce poverty. The income of the poor will grow faster if there are complementary policies that re-distribute income to reduce inequality (Klasen, 2009 cited in UNESCO, 2017). One of the complementary policies is an effective and well drawn Local Content Policy.
In the longer term growth leads to reduced inequality – and reduced inequality contributes to greater economic growth.
The engine that drives this transformation is education and skills development. Economic growth cannot be achieved without that secure foundation.
What is Education?
We start our education journey the moment we emerge into the world and some would say it starts before that. Education is much more than the simple process of receiving teaching and instruction. It is also being able to receive information and being able to work out how to use that information. That single sentence holds several important ‘chain links’:
- being able to receive
- quality and quantity of information
- being able to work with that information
- being able to use that information.
Those elements explain why and how Education increases resilience because people can work out how to cope with problems and events.
“For example, in early childhood, pneumonia is the largest cause of death, accounting for almost a million deaths, or 16% of the total, in 2015 (WHO, 2017). Pneumonia is identified as a disease of poverty, but maternal education can mitigate its effects, reducing factors that put children most at risk of dying from pneumonia, such as failure to carry out measles vaccination in the first 12 months, malnutrition and low birth weight (Rudan et al., 2008). A review of 32 studies in poorer countries showed that maternal education contributed to the choice of improved fuels and stoves over those that burn solid fuel, giving off harmful smoke and fine particles in poorly ventilated homes (Lewis and Pattanayak, 2012).” (ibid p13)
Government policies play a role in the education ‘chain’:
- Access by children and adults to educational resources (schools, public libraries, online materials, apprenticeships)
- Controlling the curriculum to ensure quality, creating qualifications that are needed by employers, building a Government – Employer – Student structure
- Embedding critical thinking, problem solving and research and innovation into curriculum
- Creating and supporting business start ups
The transformation of the Rwandan Education system
These are 10 examples of how the Rwandan Government built an education system that generates growth and reduces poverty:
Focus on universal education at primary and secondary level
English as the language of instruction, because it is the international language of business
Emphasis on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in the curriculum
Integration of ICT in Education – One Laptop Per Child policy
Teacher Training and Professional Development
Private Sector and Community involvement – partnerships with institutions, involving parents in initiatives
Curriculum reforms – emphasises critical thinking, problem solving and entrepreneurship
Expansion of Tertiary education
Focus on Gender Equity – providing scholarships and removing social stigma for girls
Vocational Training and Skills development
An effective Local Content Policy is one that does not just focus on a single sector (e.g., Oil and Gas) but is one that contributes and builds a wider learning – business – policy drive ecosystem. It needs to provide a long term route map showing that path to nation building, prosperity and stability.
Empowering local talent for sustainable growth
At Future Energy Partners we believe in the importance of developing local skills and capabilities. With decades of industrial experience combined with academic achievement, we assist policymakers in defining Local Content Policies and ensuring their successful implementation.
Our expertise enables us to deliver bespoke training solutions that empower individuals and organisations alike. We recognise the value of not only building technical knowledge but also fostering the softer skills essential for success—teamwork, career growth, performance management, and conflict resolution.
We are dedicated to unlocking local potential. To find out how we can support you, contact us today.
References
UNESCO (2017) Reducing global poverty through universal primary and secondary education. Available
(Accessed: 2 January 2025)