The head of the Ghanaian production firm Amaja Oilfield Services has made the first move towards establishing a new oil and gas technical training facility in the western region of the African country.

Afrikanus Mensah, who is a member of the Essikado royal family in addition to an experienced petroleum engineer, announced the initiative at the Western Regional House of Chiefs in Sekondi this week, handing over a cheque for $10,000 to allow work to begin.

In addition, he pledged a further $5,000 to help fund the education of the Ghanaian youth in the region, with particular focus on developing skills which can be used in the oil and gas sector.

Prior to his position as CEO of Amaja, Mr Mensah worked as an engineer in the oil industries of Nigeria, Brazil, Colombia, the UK and France.

The news comes just days after the UK oil and gas exploration firm Tullow Oil confirmed that it has successfully completed a second flow test at its Jubilee field, located off the coast of Ghana.

A flow rate of around 4,500 barrels of oil a day and more than five million cubic feet of natural gas was recorded, it was confirmed.