Resource Global Network 167
Despite facing initial challenges around seeking labour during the construction phase (primarily due to the inhospitable nature of the location) there was a big push towards local employment by LTWP, who ensured that the contractors were flexible with regards to incorporating local labour into their teams. Behind this local employment push was the company’s ambition to develop the local area by enhancing skills and transferring knowledge, in the hope that this would have a domino effect post-construction in terms of developing vocational businesses and industries. “At the peak we had 1,254 employees in the company, of which approximately 800 were local from the area. Most of the balance were from Kenya with around 10% being foreigners or expatriates. There was a lot of knowledge transfer, and today LTWP has employed a lot of those workers who were
trained by the contractors, including Vestas, Siemens and Seco, into full time roles at LTWP.”
Winds of Change
This community-driven mindset at LTWP has been further crystalized through the formation of the Winds of Change Foundation (WoC). Established in 2015, WoC is a 100% LTWP-owned subsidiary that implements LTWP’s CSR programmes and aims to improve local livelihoods within the 20,000 km² catchment area of the wind farm. The foundation focuses on enhancing employability and improving access to healthcare and water, with a key feature of its work so far being the ability to deploy the services of former LTWP employees in community projects.