(Ecofin Agency) - Britain is willing to invest $30 million in East Africa to help exploit its crude oil and natural gas finds by developing industry legislation and regulation with much importance on local content.

“We have committed $30 million towards development of local content, technical advice on legislation and regulation, research, and engagement with the industry and civil society. With new discoveries, we must get the business environment right for exploitation in a sustainable and equitable way. We need to encourage investment while ensuring local populations benefit,” Nic Hailey, British High Commissioner to Kenya said.

Presently, East African countries like Kenya have 750 million barrels of crude, 6.5 billion barrels of oil in Uganda, 57.2 trillion cubic feet of gas in Tanzania, while Mozambique has more than 100 trillion cubic feet of gas, The East African reports.

According to Hailey, Britain has for more than 50 years of exploring and producing hydrocarbons in the North Sea, been supporting over 375,000 jobs.

He said the Skills for Oil and Gas Africa programme backed by Britain and Germany will help around 32,000 people in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique discover jobs in the industry but the issues rest on how revenues are divided between local communities and the national government while also making sure that the security and the enabling environment in the oil producing areas are right.

The University of Aberdeen joined forces with the University of Dar es Salaam on a $2 million grant to help develop Tanzania’s hydrocarbons sector in 2015 and British companies like Tullow Oil Plc, Ophir Energy Plc and BG Group are establishing skills that will help drive hydrocarbons growth in East Africa.

Anita Fatunji