From Tanzania to Hammerfest. We’re supporting female engineering talent across borders
Ghati Mwita started as an Equinor sponsored student in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. She has studied in Trondheim, worked in Oslo and Harstad, and is now based in Hammerfest. Her story reflects Equinor’s approach to equality, diversity and inclusion; creating value for society through employment and people development as well as workforce diversity.
Ghati Mwita was in the first batch of students to benefit from Equinor Tanzania’s work to build local capacity by sponsoring engineering students through the Angola Tanzania Higher Education Initiative (ANTHEI).
The programme, run in collaboration with the University of Dar Es Salaam and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), allows 10 local students per year to undertake a master’s degree in engineering.
The students spend one year at NTNU in Trondheim, then the final year back in Dar Es Salaam.
Growing up with her five siblings in the town of Tarime in northern Tanzania, Mwita always dreamed of becoming an engineer.
“My father brought me many books that gave me ideas about many kinds of jobs, and I was fascinated by the idea of building and creating things,” says Mwita.
Engineering is not a common profession for women in Tanzania and Mwita is grateful for her father’s support:
“He went out of his way to make sure that we all achieved our dreams.”
From intern to production engineer
After finishing her bachelor’s degree in mineral processing engineering at the University of Dar Es Salaam, Mwita applied for and received the ANTHEI scholarship. She successfully graduated from her master’s programme in 2014 and became the first graduate that Equinor Tanzania recruited for its internship programme.
Initially based in Dar Es Salaam, Mwita later spent three months in Oslo. Upon completion of her internship in 2016, Equinor Tanzania hired her to support operations that were ongoing related to exploration activities.
Towards the end of the exploration campaign, Mwita was offered an opportunity to continue building her experience: a move to Harstad, Norway, to work on the Snøhvit and Aasta Hansteen gas fields as a production engineer..
Bringing LNG experience from Hammerfest to Tanzania
Ghati Mwita, along with several other colleagues in Equinor, are an example of how our international portfolio continues to embrace diversity and contribute to driving internationalisation, which is one of the success factors for Equinor being a truly global company.
In May 2019, Mwita completed her assignment on Aasta Hansteen and set began a new chapter in her Equinor journey as a senior engineer on the Snøhvit project.
“I’ve gained more competence working with the Melkøya LNG in Hammerfest. In the future, it could be a possibility for me to go back to Tanzania and take part in the LNG project under Equinor.”
Mwita has travelled halfway across the globe in her career so far, but her Equinor journey is just beginning.