GULF OF GUINEA INSTITUTE
VISION AND INTRODUCTION
The Gulf of Guinea Institute (G2I) will be a world-class Pan-African center providing advanced technological training and professional development relevant to the Oil and Gas industry in the Gulf of Guinea region in west and central Africa. G2I will be based in Abuja, Nigeria. It will be affiliated with the first African Institute of Science and Technology (AIST) campus which will also be centered in Abuja.
The G2I concept is also being operated by NMI. G2I will have a transparent and accountable system of governance. It will offer instruction and conduct research in science and engineering specific to the oil and gas industry that is comparable to the most revered institutions around the world. It will be strongly linked with the private sector to ensure the relevance of its teaching and research. It will be a magnet for Africa's best and brightest industry professionals, students, researchers, and teachers with in interest in Africa's oil and gas industry.
G2I will be implemented in conjunction with the first AIST campus in Abuja. This campus will open its doors to its first students, as will G2I, in September 2008.
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CONCEPT
The G2I facility will be located within the Abuja Technology Village (ATV). G2I will be located either within the AIST-Abuja campus or adjacent to it.
The architecture of the G2I facility will seek to foster excellence in learning, teaching, and research. Its building, classrooms, laboratories, common spaces, and landscaped surroundings will provide an environment that inspires attainment of knowledge and the pursuit of excellence. It will be equipped with the most up-to-date information and communication technologies (ICT).
G2I will offer a number of academic and professional programs and services.
Didactic and Training Services - G2I will develop and provide postgraduate programs in core academic disciplines related to the oil and gas industry. These programs will include certificate, diploma, masters, professional masters, and PhD programs.
In developing these programs, G2I will collaborate with Institut Francais du Petrole (IFP) in France, Penn State University (PSU) in the United States, Imperial College of Science and Technology (ICST) in the United Kingdom, and other centers of excellence around the world. It will employ resources from these institutions, as well as from AIST-Abuja and from industry. Industry professionals will be charged full fees for these courses. Students completing postgraduate degrees following an undergraduate degree at AIST-Abuja or another university will be funded by scholarship if they are unable to pay the costs of their education.
Econometric Services -In connection with its educational purpose, G2I will design, develop, and publish periodic techno-economic indices on the costs of oil and gas resource development and exploitation in the Gulf of Guinea region. These indices are likely to include an exploration cost index, drilling cost index, construction cost index, floating storage cost index, pipeline cost index, operating cost index, and other indices as deemed required by industry.
G2I will compile this data from companies and contractors in the oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Guinea. It will also work with the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) and AIST-Abuja in generating these indices. A small, permanent staff will be employed to complete this work. Costs will be covered by membership and subscription fees.
Engineering Research - G2I will establish and conduct an ongoing research program, specializing in design, construction and exploration problems specific to offshore drilling, production, and storage in the Gulf of Guinea region. In doing this, G2I will collaborate with other leading institutions from around the world. Permanent staff of G2I, academics from AIST-Abuja, visiting professors and academics, and postgraduate students will conduct this research. It will be funded by research grants and endowments.
Topics to be studied by G2I will include: Gas condensate reservoir production; Deep offshore production and Multiphase flow phenomenon; Hydrate prevention in offshore undersea production facilities, efficient drilling operations in ultra-deep wells; and recovering the unrecoverable in petroleum reservoirs.
Socio-Ethical Studies - G2I will study the effects of the oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Guinea region on the local environment and communities in impacts. It will collaborate with non-governmental organizations (NGO), the World Health Organization (WHO), and other relevant bodies in completing these studies. Funding will come from the industry and other entities interested in understanding these issues in more detail.
Topics to be studied here include the human dimension of oil and gas production; the promotion of sustainable livelihoods in petroleum exploration processes; appropriate technologies that promote environmental sustainability; and the socio-political-economy of oil production in indigenous areas.
Technical Publications - G2I will publish research journals of international scholarly interest. Funds for this activity will be derived from membership fees, the sale of publications, advertisements, and endowments.
At full capacity, G2I is expected to have a total of about 100 postgraduate students. It is anticipated that the intake of new students annually will be approximately 50. G2I students will come from all corners of the African continent and will be among the brightest, hardest-working, and most committed students in Africa.
Admission to the G2I postgraduate program will be competitive. Admissions will be based on a competitive undergraduate degree, recommendations from a recognized university, and performance in an independently administered Graduate Record Examination or Graduate Management Admission Test.
Admission to the postgraduate programs run by G2I will be unrelated to capacity to pay. No student who is accepted will be denied entry if he or she is unable to pay the costs of his or her education. However, students who are able to pay will be expected to contribute to their educational expenses. The contributions expected of these students will depend on the financial resources of their families.
G2I will conduct professional programs aimed at updating the skills and knowledge of scientists, engineers, and executives in the oil and gas industry. It is anticipated that these programs will cater for approximately 1500 professionals per year. They will range in duration from 3 days up to 2 weeks and will be modeled on similar programs run by business schools in the United States and United Kingdom.
Admission to these programs will not depend on prior academic performance but on capacity to pay.
Once G2I is established and functioning successfully, it will offer students the opportunity to complete its postgraduate courses via distance learning. This will permit anyone anywhere in the world access to an education from G2I, as long as they have access to a computer and the internet. Admission to this program will be competitive. As for admission to the postgraduate program, applicants must hold a competitive undergraduate degree, strong recommendations from a recognized university, and excellent results in an independently administered graduate admissions examination.
The quality of G2I as a center of excellence will be determined largely by the quality of its faculty. A high-quality faculty will attract excellent students and professional trainees and the funds required for the viability of the project. Good students and funding will, in turn, attract quality faculty. These positively reinforcing effects can begin only with the attraction of excellent faculty. G2I will, therefore, ensure that it attracts and retains such a faculty. At the outset, a balance of young, dynamic researchers and academicians and senior academicians with a vision for developing their areas of expertise and connections to industry will be targeted.
Multiple incentives will be provided to attract and retain a superior faculty. The faculty will be offered salaries and benefits which, though perhaps not competitive with the top universities in the United States, will be set at a level to afford a comfortable standard of living on the African continent. In addition, other benefits such as good housing at a reasonable rate, good education for children, and opportunities for spouses will be offered to add to the attractiveness of the positions. Furthermore, a research environment with opportunities to attract good-quality masters and doctoral students will enable the faculty to engage in contemporary, internationally significant research.
Many G2I faculties will share their time with AIST-Abuja.
G2I will not operate in a vacuum--the training it will provide will give students practical skills for their use in careers in business, industry, and government. Maintaining close connections with the outside world will ensure that the curriculum of G2I is relevant to potential employers of its graduates; research conducted is relevant to the problems of the real world; professional programs add value to the employees of the oil and gas industry; funding is forthcoming; new ideas and developments are incorporated into the operations of the campus; students are able to gain meaningful internships and work experience during their time at G2I; and business, industry, and, government leaders can inspire and pass on their wisdom to Africa’s next generation of leaders.
The practical relevance of the training provided at G2I will be established and maintained at a number of levels:
- The Board of Trustees will include members from business, industry, and the public sector.
- Oversight and advisory committees established for G2I will also include members from business, industry, and the public sector.
- Faculty will have incentives to develop and maintain connections with business, industry, and the public sector, particularly with respect to designing and implementing research projects and raising the funds necessary to undertake those projects.
- A professionals' program office will be established. This office will be responsible for ensuring that the programs developed for the educational benefit of the professionals within the oil and gas industry meets the needs of its intended market. It will liaise with the oil and gas industry to determine what their technical and executive training needs are and will then work to develop programs that meet to these needs.
- Guest lecturers and adjunct faculty will come from industry and government.
- Programs will be established to encourage alumni and alumnae to maintain an interest in the business of G2I.
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GOVERNANCE AND ORGANIZATION
A transparent and accountable system of governance is critical to the success of G2I. Equally important is G2I's ability to access business and industry at a global level and to tap into leading technological ideas and trends. The institutional governance and organizational structure proposed here will meet these needs.
G2I will initially be a subsidiary of NMI. It will be registered in Delaware to allow funds to be raised and collected from entities located in the United States and Europe, to isolate NMI from the risk of property confiscation and other legal meddling, and for the taxation advantages nonprofits receive in this jurisdiction. G2I will also have an affiliated entity incorporated in Abuja, Nigeria, for the purposes of conducting G2I's local operations.
G2I will be governed autonomously from NMI and AIST and will have stringent transparency and disclosure requirements. It will be required to meet standards of academic excellence to maintain its affiliation with AIST. It will be audited on a regular basis to ensure these standards are maintained.
G2I will maintain a statutory Board of Trustees (BoT) appointed by and responsible to the NMI Board of Directors (BoD). In addition, to gain access to leading technological ideas and trends and to ensure that the academic environment at G2I is world-class, the BoT, the administration, and the academic community of G2I will have access to the nonstatutory International Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB) and African Scientific Committee (ASC) that have been established to service the AIST community.
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IMPLEMENTATION
The commitment of a significant level of resources is required to implement the G2I vision and have the facility doors opened to its first students by September 2008. The implementation of G2I will occur in close parallel with NMI's AIST-Abuja campus.
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