By Christopher Ambe
 |
| Camerooon OIC Diredtor.Clara Limunga Molua, |
Cameroon OIC
Buea has started training solar energy technicians in a project dubbed “Solar
Technician Made in Cameroon’.
At the launch of the project, Mr. Thomas
Orock, Southwest Regional Inspector for Vocational Training, commended OIC and
implored it to maintain its leadership position as a vocational training centre
in the region.
It is the
first ever training course on solar energy in the Southwest Region, The
Recorder learned.
The project,
according to Madam Clara Limunga Molua, Programme Director of Cameroon OIC, is
intended to contribute towards the realization of the Head of State’s vision of
Cameroon becoming an emergent country by 2035.
“Being the
first of its kind in Fako, the project will not only transform and revitalize
but will supplement sustainable energy to the under-supplied energy sector of
Cameroon and hence increase the wattage.consequently, the problems of
deficiency and scarcity of electricity will be drastically curbed …once the
implementation phase starts”, remarked the programme director, in her welcome
to a large audience that turned up for the launch of the project, while
thanking partners for their significant contributions.
Seventeen (17)
technicians- a majority sent by municipal councils and the rest self-sponsored have
undergone the maiden four-week training, which ended last April 30, according
to Ephanga Martin Ndive,OIC Training Manager.
“After the training, the trainees
will go back to their councils and educate others on the importance of solar
energy. In case any institution needs solar equipment, the trainees will
contact OIC to facilitate their acquisition and installation”, he told The
Recorder.
The Cameroon
OIC solar technician training has been carried out by Mr.Augustin Ndasi,
Managing Director of HES Company-Limbe and his team of experts in the field of
REN.
The project
is the fruit of Cameroon OIC ‘s partnership
with AGI-Technologies,SEP and Sunpower
EPE ( based in Germany and Greece),Haute Energy System(HES),Limbe-Cameroon who
are experts in the field of photovoltaic
and other renewable energies, and the
Fako Cultural and Development Association(FACUDA e.V.) based in Germany.
The
launching of the Solar Technician made in Cameroon last April 7 on OIC campus,
was chaired by Madam Ebot Margaret, Assistant Divisional Officer (ADO) for
Buea,who sat in for the Divisional Officer Kouam Wokam Paul
Madam Ebot hailed the initiators and partners
of the OIC solar project, noting that it was in line with the commitment of the
Government to revolutionize the energy sector in Cameroon. She was optimistic
that the country would soon have “Solar Technicians Made in Cameroon”
In a
discourse on the importance of solar Energy, during the launching, Mr. Thomas
Orock, Southwest Regional Inspector for Vocational Training, enumerated the
uses of solar energy, which, he said, is environmentally friendly and healthy.
“Cameroon
OIC is considered the leader of vocational training in the Southwest and
programmes like this enable you maintain your leadership position”, Mr. Orock happily
told Cameroon OIC authorities, hoping that the pioneer solar technician
trainees would be very committed.
For his
part, Mr. Eyong Tedd,who spoke on behalf of
Barrister Ekontang Elad,OIC Board Chair, noted that “ We (OIC ) are redesigning our approach to training,
according to the trends of times. We give the kind of training that makes trainees
relevant not only now but also in future”
He advised
the pioneer batch of “Solar Technicians Made in Cameroon” to be honest with
their clients and not to exploit them,upon completion of the course.He said
Cameroon OIC, which will next year clock 30 years, has trained tens of
thousands of Cameroonians since its inception in 1986.
Taking the
floor, Engineer Emmanuel Elacko Efome, President of FACUDA e.V-the donor
organization of the Cameroon OIC solar energy training project, said he was
happy to return home “to make my own little contribution to a small development
initiative in the field of solar energy”
Engineer
Efome,who is a native of Buea but based in Germany, was speaking on the
occasion in three capacities. He was representing FACUDA e.V(the donor
organization) based in Germany and two companies that shouldered the technical
realization of the Solar energy training project-AGI Technologies and SEP Solar
Energie Projekt- both based in Germany
Engineer
Efome thanked the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and Engagement Global (the German Central
contact agency that runs the selection process for funding development
initiatives both at home and abroad) for funding the OIC Solar Training project to the tune of
90% with the sum of 12.743.456 FCFA.
He was
particularly thankful to the Programme Director of Cameroon OIC, Madam Clara
Molua for hosting the project and for her “unconditional support to its realization”.
He equally commended OIC training manager Ephanga Martin Ndive “for bringing up
the brilliant idea that led to this development initiative.”
Engineer
Efome said FACUDA e.V, which was formed in 2012, has as members persons living
in Germany but who originate from Fako Division in Cameroon. “Our main
objective is to promote development initiatives in Fako Division in particular
and Cameroon in general”, he noted.
Why Train Solar Technicians?
According to
Engineer Efome, “The constant increase in energy costs, the problem of
persistent brownouts (voltage drop).blackouts and most importantly, the
increasing awareness in climate change have pushed the business of renewable
and alternative energy use in Cameroon to grow tremendously in the past years”
He noted
that the renewable energy sector in the Southwest Region is lacking in manpower
for planning, design, installation, monitoring and maintenance of renewable
energy systems.
Immediate Objective
According to
Engineer Efome, “Our immediate objective is to promote the training of
technicians in the fields of Photovoltaics,in order that they may be able to
understand the basics and the Process of planning,Designing,Installing and
Maintaining PV systems. There is no other better place to carry out the
training than OIC-its track record as vocational training school for the past decades in
different professional fields cannot be over emphasized, also and above
all, its Management team that is open to innovation, even with the little means
at their disposal, needs to be commended
“In Europe
such technicians are known as solateurs,a training that started just about 15
years ago. So we are not trailing behind all that much if we start now to
provide certified training programmes for renewable energy professions
according to international guidelines”
Long term objective
According to
Engineer Efome, “Our mission by venturing into the training aspect of renewable
energy is to set up a full
fledged-training center for renewable energy technologies, with the long-term
objective to develop skills for green jobs
“We also
plan to promote start-up companies in REN technologies in the Region, search
for funds to service start-up grants for REN business, promote knowledge
acquisition and knowledge database creation. All these will go to enhance the
creation of jobs, and put us at the forefront in advancing with the trends of
these technologies”
Solar Power Applications and Benefits
-Solar power
for chilling-refrigeration and air-conditioning
-Solar power
for water heating
- Solar
power for drying wood,cocoa,coffee(in industrial scale)
-Solar power
for irrigation of crops
- Solar
power for water pumping
- Solar power
for our schools, homes, offices, rural hospitals and industries
- Solar
power for street and signal lighting
- Solar
power for telecommunications and IT solutions
- Solar
power for automobiles ,ships and air crafts.
Engineer
Efome concluded his presentation, noting: “The potential of REN techs to drive
employment growth is immense and we should use this advantage”
[ First published in The RECORDER Newspaper,Cameroon,of May 6,2015]
