The University of Aberdeen has won funding to help Tanzania develop engineers and lawyers for its oil and gas industry.

The €2 million fund (£1.5m) will be used for a three-year project that will promote learning and research between the university and academics and students at the University of Dar es Salaam (USDM) in the east African nation.

It will also help develop the university’s curriculum in engineering, geosciences, social sciences, business and law.

John Scrimgeour, Executive Director of the Aberdeen Institute of Energy said: “There are significant gas reserves in Tanzania, however the country relies heavily on oil and gas sector expertise from abroad.

“Understandably, the government of Tanzania wants to develop its own home-grown expertise in order to develop a sustainable oil and gas industry and establish the country as a major energy influence in the region, however to do so it needs to create capacity in their universities to develop geologists, engineers, chemists, lawyers and economists.”

The European Union awarded the cash to support its programme to develop the oil and gas sector in the country.