Why We Exist
Education goes beyond textbooks and classrooms. We believe in empowering students to easily integrate the professional world.
IPMA Inside
Reasons for IMPA's Creation
The creation of the International Petroleum and Mining Academy (IPM Academy) was necessitated by the facts that:
Bridge Regional Skills Gap
Cameroon and the Central Africa Sub region is endow with huge deposit of oil and gas and mining in the global economy, but the Central Africa Sub-region is plagued with steady rise in unemployment, poverty, uncertified training programs in universities, because Cameroon and the Central Africa States have not yet enter the mainstream of International Certified Professional Training and production of Regional Experts in the petroleum. Mining, industries needed by both the Investors and Governments for the realization of projects while building a Sustainable Human Resources base for a permanent operations and maintenance human resources pool, and the eradication of poverty in Africa via employment into high paying jobs.
Align with Global Labor Demands
In addition to the experience of IPM Academy in the process to develop the human resources of the energy industry of Cameroon and the Sub-region, the Sectorial Activities Department of the International labour Organization in Geneva in 2012 reports that; a Global Training Strategy which matches training to the labour market demands needs to be formulated to stand against the increasing shortage of skills of both technical, soft and managerial skills with particular attention to technical occupations such as Petrochemical Engineers, Petroleum Engineers, Geologists, etc. Furthermore there should be a greater reliance on local / regional experts or workforces, young people should be attracted to get in for training, and women should be attracted to get into the energy industry.
Missing Link in International Energy Strategies
International institutions have conducted studies on the development of the Energy Sector in Africa including the Central Africa Sub-region and their hope for sustainable labour depends on national experts but the nationals have not yet been trained in Core Technical and Engineering Skills and programs as means to develop the human capital of the energy industry of Africa but planning to use this nationals for the realization of projects. The “African Development Bank and the Africa Union Oil and Gas in Africa” reports of 2009 by the Chief Economist of African Development Bank and the Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy African Union recommends that regional economic institutions should promote Regional Infrastructure such as pipelines and promote the use of Regional Experts in the energy industry but has not highlighted the aspect of training the Regional Experts in the energy industry in Africa including the Central Africa Sub-region. In the “Investing in Natural Gas for Africa-Doing Good Doing Well” of 2018 by the chief executive officer of Africa50 prioritizing investments in midstream Gas in Africa with emphasis on pipeline, has not brought to light the aspect of training of Africans to build local experts but need nationals for the projects. In the report “Power Africa Gas Roadmap 2030” by the United State Secretary of Energy with the United State Agency for International Development has not published anything about the training of Africans as energy experts for the powering of Africa but stands for the development of the energy industry in Africa. The report “Natural Gas in Africa” by Climate Action Tracker in 2022 is talking about the need for sustainable energy in Africa, Natural Gas Energy Systems in Africa, and nothing on the sustainable development of the energy human resources in Africa. Lastly even the “Central Africa Regional Integration Strategic Paper 2019 to 2025’ needs the development of human capital as a regional integration strategy.
Capitalize on Global Demographic Shifts
The trend in falling petroleum engineering graduation rate of students and the demographic rate at which the aging go for retirement in the western world (By Stephen Rassenfoss in the Journal of Petroleum Technology) necessitate the Central Africa Region to Operate a Private Professional Training Institution in the Petroleum, Mining and Agriculture for the production of Core Engineers (Regional Experts) for recruitment in the giant projects in the Africa Sub-region and Africa such as the CARPS Project leading to the eradication of unemployment and poverty at the bottom.
Establish Internationally Certified Training Hub
Furthermore, the Central Africa Sub region needs a Petroleum, Mining, and Agricultural training Institution that will offer training with the same quality and international standards to all nations in one spot, act as a certification center, and offer training integrated with a technology that gives access to Promoting teaching and learning with the use of appropriate skills on computer technology and web tools, Practical training on site with companies within the energy industry, Training that matches with job profiles in the industries, training with internationally certified learning/teaching materials, training with the same standards as in the nations where investors come from.
