UPON COMPLTION OF OUR ELEVEN COUNTRY AFRICAN TOUR A History in Pictures
Raising African Skills to World Class Standards
Trade School Technology Transfer
Welding School Centers of Excellence
Centers for Manufacturing Skills and Technologies
African Skills and Development Group Ltd. was established in 2024 as a sister organization to GFP International to serve as a project management implementation team for welding school modernization projects across Africa and provide a conduit for graduates of industrial welding schools who have been taught the skills for an industrial work force. Current practices in welding schools outside of South Africa only teach ornamental welding skills, which do not prepare students to meet the needs of the coming industrialization boom in Africa. GFP International is a non-profit organization whose mission is to support the upgrading of trade skill education in Africa as described on its website found at this link: https://www.gfp-intl.org/This page provides a brief history of GFP International and African Skills and Development Group Ltd. GFP International has a history that dates to 2005 when its founder visited Matamba Tanzania, a small village located in the southern highlands of Tanzania in the Njombe District.
2005
In 2005, it was the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic when our founder first visited Africa. Feeling grateful after recovering from a life-threatening illness, Mike Vallez reached out to various faiths in Minnesota where he lived and found a group of like-minded people to join hands and work together. Meeting every month, this coalition became known as Global Faith Partners. One thing led to another, and GFP became involved in working with Father Augustine Mbiche, a Catholic Priest in the town of
Matamba, Tanzania. During a visit to Tanzania in 2005, Father Mbiche showed Mike Vallez a piece of land where he hoped to build an elementary school. Saint Monica’s Elementary School is now thriving, teaching subjects in English, with students scoring in the top 3% of nationally administered tests.
2019
St. Monica’s is now a thriving k-7 elementary school, but the students do not have an equivalent high quality secondary school to attend in the Matamba area. Global Faith Partners was asked to help raise funds for a secondary boarding school, when the decision was made to create a formal non-profit NGO, now called GFP International.
2019
Five years later, Saint Monica’s Secondary school is nearing completion, and grades 8 and 9 (Form 1 and 2) have started classes.
2022 - 2023
Beginning with a small idea to install some welding machines in St. Monica’s Secondary school, GFP International has expanded its mission to support existing vocational schools across Africa to raise skill standards to world class levels, starting with the welding trade
January 2023
January 2023
GFP International Chairman and Welding Advisory Team with Dr. Noel Mbonde, Tanzanian Director of Technical Education. From left to right: Nick Price, Director of Welding Training at Davis County Technical School, Ogden, Utah; Ryan Eubank, welding consultant and trainer, Cleveland, Ohio; Dr. Noel Mbonde, Director of Technical Training, Dodoma Tanzania; Michael Vallez, Chairman/CEO of GFP International, Salt Lake City, Utah; Subu Mpapane, South African metallurgical engineer, industrial contractor, welding expert.
Special Partnering Meeting with Dr. Noel Mbonde, Director of Technical Education and Hon Adolf Mkenda, Member of Parliament, and Minister of Education, Republic of Tanzania.
January 2023
January 2023
October 2022
August 2023
June 2022
June 2022
January 2023
June 2022
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October 2022
October 2022
January 2023
The next opportunity, Electrical.
September 2023
September 2023
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November 2023
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November 2023
November 2023
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September 2023
November 2023
January 2024 With Leaders at the American Welding Society Back Row. Left to Right
Brenda Boddiger, Program Manager, Qualification & Certification; Stephen Snyder, Regional Director, Welding Technology Services-Asia, Africa, Oceania
Front Row, Left to Right
Left to Right, (unknown), Richard Arn, V.P., Welding and Technology; Michael Vallez, Founder, GFP International; Cassandra Scheffer, Director of Accreditation; Efram Abrams, Senior Sales Executive; Nathan Carter,
May 2024 East African Lecture Tour
Currently, there are no trade schools in East Africa that are sufficiently equipped or staffed to teach modern industrial welding.
In May 2024, an East African lecture tour was conducted by GFP International Founder Michael Vallez and project manager Brian Masicha. AWS executives, Steve Snyder and Ramesh Shankaran joined for the Nairobi Kenya portion of the tour, as well as Dr. Kipikirui, Director General/CEO of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority; Dr. Paul Wanyeki, Deputy Director of the Kenya TVET, and Mr. Ruto Lyoba, Director of the East African Institute of Welding. The group visited and spoke with technical and vocational schools. Speaking to nearly 1,000 students, these young men and women learned about the key role of welding in an industrial economy. It is hoped that they will become advocates for positive change in the quality of trade skill training, and industrial welding.
Kenya Portion
Kenya School of TVET
Kabete National Polytechnic
Kiambui Institute of Science and Technology
Technical University of Mombasa
The Kenya Coast National Polytechnic
Bandari Marine Technology
Rwanda Tour
ADEF TVET School
Gacuriro Technical School
Zanzibar Tour
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Tour
University of Dar es Salaam, School of Engineering and Technology
Mike Vallez lecture about industrial welding skills to vocational trainers at the Kenya School of TVET
Steve Snyder, American Welding Society, lecturing at the Kenya School of TVET
Lecture at the Bandari Maritime Academy, Mombasa, Kenya
Integrated Polytechnic Regional College, Kigali, Rwanda
With trade school students at the Karume Institute of Science and Technology. Zanzibar
Welding and Industrial Students at Don Bosco School, Oyster Bay, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Upon completion of the East African lecture tour, and consultation with legal counsel in the U.S. and East African countries, GFP International learned of the complexities of forming, registering and operating a non-profit organization in multiple jurisdictions with different and cumbersome rules and regulations regarding non-profit entities. Every school visited would require modern equipment and more space to graduate the same number of students, but with internationally recognized skills. Fund managers need on-site observation to provide assurance and auditability to donors. Welding school graduates need access to good paying jobs, both in and outside of Africa. The founder of GFP International decided to form a regular US corporate shell with the intent to form subsidiaries in multiple African countries with local shareholders to help build a sustainable enterprise that would help achieve the goals and objectives of GFP International. The idea of African Skills and Development Ltd. was born, doing business as African Skills and Development Group Ltd.
NIGERIA 2025
In Port Harcourt Nigeria with our new friend, Mazi Sam Azoka Onyechi, President of the Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria (OGTAN); Member of the Governing Counsel of the Nigerian Local Content Development & Monitoring Board; and CEO of Inspection and Testing Nigeria Ltd. whose clients include but are not limited to all the domestic and international energy, mining, and manufacturing companies in Nigeria.
Don Bosco training center in Abuja, Nigeria
National Center for Technology Management
Institute for Industrial Training (IIT) Center, Lagos
The Proposed Kaduna Welding School Team
The Petroleum Training Institute, Warri, Nigeria
Homik Oil and Gas Facility Engineering School
ICON Lifting & Rigging Inspections and Training Center
Federal Ministry of Youth Development Abuja Nigeria
Harmattan City Institute of Welding and Fabrication
Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology Ikere-Ekiti
With David Okechukwu
WIth Father James
With Professor Leo Adegun
With Father Samuel Agudosi
With Professor Michael Ugota Awoke
With Engr. Dr. Eric Kofi Adzroe
GHANA - 2025
CAMEROON - 2025
KENYA 2025
In discussions between GFP International and a leadership team of the 70,000 student Kenyatta University in Nairobi Kenya about creating a Center for Manufacturing Skills and Technologies. A modern welding training center would be a cornerstone of this new center that will serve to equip students with the skills needed by employers in Africa’s transformation. It would also engage the mechanical, electrical and other departments plus industry to create the innovative Center for Manufacturing Skills and Technologies.
We are extremely pleased to share that the Don Bosco Africa leader, Father Maximus Okoro (Second from left) has offered to assist GFP International with community engagement and feasibility services for all of our welding school projects, whether they are Don Bosco projects or others. The Don Bosco organization has over 115 vocational schools in 35 African countries, and hundreds more across the globe. There are more than 3,600 Don Bosco schools and over 800 vocational training centers worldwide. They are operated by the Salesian Priests, Brothers and lay teachers and staff. Community engagement will be a key element in achieving our goal of 30 welding centers of excellence across Africa, supporting the rapid industrialization, job creation, and poverty reduction that is starting to take shape.
At the Morendat Institute of Oil and Gas with Mikail Tomno, CWI Inspector and Welding Instructor
ETHIOPIA 2025
Meet the top-notch welding, fabrication and manufacturing training administrators and faculty at Ethiopia’s highly acclaimed Center of Excellence for Engineering and Welding Training and Technology Center in Addis Ababa. Dr. Selamu Yisihak Handiso, CEO; Tesfaye Gurmesa, Lead Executive for Technology Design, Development and Manufacturing; Dr. Habtamu Mulugeta, Deputy Director General for Research and Community Service; Fantahun Yemana, Lead Executive for International Welding Certification; Besufekad Fayisa, Technology Design and Fabrication Quality control and Assurance Senior Expert.
UGANDA 2025
Meet Engineer, Fabricator, Manufacturer, Educator, and Trainer, Mr. Sseziwba Ronald of the SEB Group of Companies in Uganda. He has emerged as a visionary thought leader and influential change agent in the vocational training sector in Uganda and beyond. An Electrical Engineer by Education, he has built an innovative and successful business in welding and steel related fields, and is committed to helping Uganda and Ugandans succeed in this changing world that demands more skilled labor.
TANZANIA / ZANZIBAR 2025
We at GFP International are happy to be working to support the Karume Institute of Technology to create a welding school of excellence and underwater welding school for Africa. Zanzibar is home to numerous SCUBA diving shops and sites and is a perfect location to create a globally recognized destination for training underwater workers / welders to fit the coming offshore energy boom in Africa.
MALAWI 2025
Lilongwe Technical College
Left to right: Mr Spencer Mkonya, Head of Electrical Section; Principal Suzgika Mvalo and Deputy Principal Ngugi Chilalika of the Lilongwe Technical College in Malawi, Africa. This institution and its students would most certainly benefit from the construction of a new modern welding school
Meet Mr. Kasembi, owner of the roadside welding business, KASEMBI WELDING. He obtained some limited welding training, and his 6 guys, with no formal training, earn about $100 per month doing piecework for customers of the shop. This $100 per month is on the low end of the $100 to $300 per month welder earnings in Malawi. I’ve visited dozens of roadside welding shops across Africa like this one and the conditions at KASEMBI WELDING are typical. No eye, skin protection or other safety gear; low pay; little to no job security; working in the open air; substandard equipment. We can change this! A certified and skilled industrial welder in Africa can make as much as a medical doctor. He or she can help build a real economy.
Dinner meeting with the Honorable Timothy Mtambo, human rights advocate and member of the Malawi Parliament, and his lovely wife, Sally Mtambo, member of GFP International’s Blue-Ribbon Committee and legal counsel for Malawi Electric. Two marvelous individuals and now friends.
At the Harare Institute of Technology, Harare, Zimbabwe
The Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) is a 3,000 student Zimbabwean university focused on science, engineering, and technology (SET) programs. It was established in 1988 as a National Vocational Training Centre and gained degree-awarding status in 2005. HIT aims to be a leader in technology-based education and research, with a focus on innovation and “technopreneurship”.
Dinson Iron and Steel Plant – Phase 1
MOZAMBIQUE – 2025
Capping off my eleven country, eight-week development and lecture tour, I had a wonderful meeting with the Mozambique Minister of Education on July 24th, Ms. Samaria Tovela, and her team. Like all African countries I’ve visited, Mozambique leaders are eager and ready to push the agenda for raising industrial skills to world class levels. I feel so blessed to have been called to this work where I can meet such delightful people and dedicated leaders. After meeting with Mozambique’s Minister of Education, we were afforded a visit to the Matola Institute of Technology Welding School that was created with funding from the Republic of South Korea. We applaud the generosity and good intentions of Korea.However, despite the high quality of the equipment and infrastructure the school still does not meet the needs of industrial industries. The curriculum only gives welders 10 hours of skill practice per week, for a total of 110 hours of skill practice, while experience tells us that it takes 4O0 hours of skill practice to prepare students to pass international skill testing standards for welder certification. This 400 hours costs money to purchase the consumable materials to gain 400 hours of skill practice. This is a common problem we have found in all African welding schools, meaning that the students at this school are not ready to gain employment on the many industrial welding projects that need these skilled welders. The answer is to provide scholarships to students to cover the added material costs, and modify the curriculum accordingly.
