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Middle East and Africa Recruitment Agency

International recruitment agency, First Recruitment Group, has seen extraordinary growth within the Oil & Gas sector over the past 20 years, expanding across the Middle East and Africa region.

We have placed candidates across the Middle East and Africa in contract and permanent positions, providing recruitment services to major Oil & Gas projects in Ghana, Chad, Kenya, UAE and Nigeria to name a few, increasingly important with significant growth in Africa's oil & gas production predicted by 2023.

Our team work through our in-country offices, helping our clients with recruitment in Ghana, Kenya and UAE, and through our trusted strategic partner network throughout the region to ensure in-country compliance.

Experience ensures that we are able to find both expat and local candidates to suit our client’s unique needs, whilst ensuring smooth mobilisation and payrolling.

Our services

We provide each of our Oil & Gas clients with quality tailored service, working in collaboration to reach their employment goals.

Our international clients receive the following services as standard:

  • A dedicated, experienced Account Manager, who listens, understands and communicates effectively.
  • An extensive candidate network of thousands of skilled workers across the Middle East and Africa region.
  • A flexible recruitment team that can be scaled up or down depending on your project and workforce needs.
  • Payroll and tax administration services in-country.
  • Targeted candidate attraction strategies, tailored to the client requirements.
  • A compliant pre-screening process, ensuring insurance, qualifications, references and clearances are all checked, validated and recorded.
  • On-boarding and mobilisation including visas, work permits, finding accommodation, medical arrangements, substance testing, inoculations, medical insurances etc.
  • Support with workforce nationalisation and localisation targets, as well as local content compliance.

To learn more about the services we offer, take a look at our Middle East and Africa Recruitment Brochure.

Leading our Middle East and Africa recruitment team

Lewis Trow - Africa and Middle East Recruitment Agency

Lewis Trow, Client Development Director, is head of international recruitment, overseeing the management of our African and Middle Eastern divisions.

Over the past decade, Lewis has overseen the development of our international capability, helping specifically with our in-country African offices as he has seen a huge demand for local recruitment agencies in Ghana and Kenya, as Oil & Gas projects in the region have grown

Lewis’ expertise stretches across the full life cycle of Oil & Gas activity, helping clients to find solutions in recruitment management, international business development, company start-ups, corporate strategy, team leadership, financial management and service delivery.

Offices in Ghana, Kenya and UAE help provide local knowledge and compliance

Our in-country recruitment agencies in Ghana, Kenya and UAE provide local knowledge, compliance and on boarding, ensuring our clients receive excellent service and peace of mind that the whole process is managed from start to finish.

Many of our clients use our outsourcing services including payroll, visas, work permits, taxes, local support and of course manpower, providing all services in one place.

As Oil & Gas specialists, we have worked across Greenfield and Brownfield developments, with experience placing skilled candidates into oil refineries, gas plants, petrochemical plants, offshore platforms, FPSO's and LNG terminals.

Recruitment agency in Ghana

Since opening in 2013, we have noticed a huge growth in the demand for local recruitment agencies in Ghana as projects across the country have risen.

Our local in-country office, First Technical (Ghana) Limited, is based in the capital of Accra and led by local Ghanaian Martin Aye-Addo, providing local recruitment services and expertise across the West Africa region. We meet all requirements of the Local Content Act and have an up to date Petroleum Commission Permit.

Our growth and development in Africa has given us a fantastic insight into the Oil & Gas market in Ghana and beyond, developing strong relationships with companies including Tullow Oil, Kosmos Energy and Technip along the way.

With a wealth of knowledge and experience in the Oil & Gas industry, our Ghanaian recruitment team work closely with Operators, EPC's, Service Companies and Specialist Consultancies, placing both contract and permanent candidates.

Find out more information about our Ghana office here

Recruitment agency in Kenya

Established in 2013, our Kenya recruitment office was first developed to support one of our clients, Tullow Oil, who were looking to improve their recruitment in the East Africa region, and came to us for assistance.

Headed by local Kenyan, Esther Evans, our recruitment team has supported Oil & Gas client projects based in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia. With over 20 years in the petroleum industry, Esther leads our Kenya and East Africa operations, working closely with existing clients to provide reliable hiring services and supporting new Oil & Gas businesses with their recruitment requirements.

Find out more information about our capability in Kenya here

UAE recruitment team

Talascend International are a specialist recruitment agency that is part of the wider First Recruitment Group; they have a local in-country office in the UAE providing employment services across the region. Talascend International has provided recruitment services to the Oil & Gas industry for over 30 years, as well as supplying specialised talent to the Rail, Infrastructure, Power, and Nuclear sectors.

Based in the capital city of Abu Dhabi, our UAE recruitment team works closely with our clients to find them the best permanent and contract candidates in the Oil & Gas industry.

Find out more information about Talascend International here

Why work with First?

There are many reasons to work with our team. Our highly experienced team have worked across the Oil & Gas industry for over 20 years’. Many of our clients have worked with us for over 15 years, which is testimony to our strong service delivery. Our culture is collaborative, listening to the needs of our clients and adjusting our services as needed, helping to support both large and small projects.

Many of our clients enjoy working with us as they can trust us to manage their whole recruitment process from start to finish.

We can help with Managed Service solutions through our business Operam Managed Solutions. Click here to read more.

Contact our Middle East and Africa recruitment team

If you are looking for a local recruitment agency in Ghana, Kenya or UAE, or you need general recruitment support across the Middle East and Africa, contact our Client Development Director, Lewis Trow at lewis.trow@firstrg.com, or call us on +44 (0)1925 907000.

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