Perenco is deeply committed to contribute to the economic and social development of the countries where we operate. Fostering the creation of local businesses, accompanying micro-entrepreneurship and supporting employment and training are all objectives that fully rally our teams.
Promoting Local Employment
Perenco sometimes operates in remote, even isolated areas where the company is actually a major economic presence. As a consequence we are particularly careful to encourage the creation of local employment, whether directly or indirectly. Perenco foments the creation of local enterprises as part of our subsidiaries’ projects. The idea is to encourage local businesses to take part to our operations and play a role in constructing, maintaining and safeguarding our infrastructure.
For example the FLNG unit alone (the first floating liquefaction plant in the world) installed off Kribi has generated over 700 jobs.
Supporting Entrepreneurial Projects
In Vietnam and Cameroon, Perenco has chosen to provide support through the European Institute for Cooperation and Development (IECD), which foments human and economic development through education, training, entrepreneurship and improved access to employment for young people.
Perenco thereby funds the Small & Micro Entrepreneurs (SME) Support programme, to accompany local populations and help them develop their business activity in a structured and sustainable manner. In Vietnam several hundreds of entrepreneurs from Ho Chi Minh have already benefited from the programme. They have discovered new management tools, improved their knowledge in marketing and enterprise creation and also built on their confidence through individual coaching and networking events.
In Cameroon, Perenco supports the development of income-generating small business activities in the Kribi area. The programme offers tailor-made training to each entrepreneurial profile to teach how to create and stabilise an income-generating activity, set-up a business plan and start a business, manage a business more efficiently and make a commercial activity sustainable over time, or acquire agricultural and agri-food technologies. These actions have already proven successful: 60% companies have seen their turnover increase, 82% are now using management tools following training and more than 25% have recruited staff.
In Tunisia, Perenco has made the choice to support access to credit in partnership with the Financing Bank for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (BFPME).
Developing Vocational Training
Perenco is involved in many training projects that the company has chosen to adapt to each subsidiary or region in order to promote local recruitment and offer professional development opportunities to all our collaborators.
In West Africa, Perenco has partnered with the Catholic Institute of Arts and Crafts (ICAM), which has launched engineering schools in Congo and Cameroon. The company hosts several students as part of work-study schemes or internships every year.
Another example, in Guatemala, Perenco has partnered with San Carlos University and sponsors environmental research projects. Since last year Perenco has also launched a continuous professional training programme for rotation staff, called “Licenciatura Perenco” - a dedicated university training whose first cohort graduated last June.
Having these programmes in place enables the company to improve the training level of its collaborators and facilitate staff mobility. Guatemala is now the first "provider" of expatriate qualified staff for leadership roles.