COVER STORY
28 August 2018INVESTING IN PEOPLE,
SUSTAINABILITY
Shell Development Oman’s social investment and business choices
harness a steadfast commitment to a lower-carbon future delivered
through long-term sustainable programmes
W
ith sustainability firmly
locked in its core ethos,
Shell Development Oman
works with governments,
academics and industry specialists,
and partner with companies and
organisations to help meet the world’s
growing energy needs.“We share ideas and expertise to help
encourage innovation. We work with
others to help reduce our impact on
the environment and on people, to
improve the quality of nature around
us and to enhance benefits to local
communities by implementing social
investment programmes,” says Muna
Al Shukaili, general manager - external
relations and social investment lead
at Shell Development Oman. “Our
social investment and business choices
harness a steadfast commitment to a
lower-carbon future delivered through
long-term sustainable programmes.”Solar power
Designed to both educate the future
generation and promote the transition
to renewable energy sources, the
‘Solar into Schools’ programme was
announced as Shell’s fifth gift to
the nation in 2015 and involves the
installation of solar photovoltaic
technology to power at public schools.
“It reflects our dedication to put clean
energy into classrooms to create a
long-term impact on the environmentand financial market of the country,”
explains Muna. “We are proud to say
that we have enhanced the lives of
over 1,000 people with 73.5 tonnes/
annum CO2e saved from each solar
school. This is a good indicator that
Shell Development Oman has the right
tools to manage this large scale project
and is on track to achieving its goal to
have 22 operational solar schools in the
Sultanate in the next five years.”Part of the project is also a science,
technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM) programme
called ‘NXPlorers’ which aims to raise
awareness on emerging concerns in
the energy sector and inspire Omani
youth in the field to explore the world
of renewables and STEM. A major
component to the ‘Solar into Schools’
programme focuses on providing small
and medium enterprises (SMEs) an
opportunity to explore this renewable,
a new market segments that can
contribute to Oman’s future energy
landscape.Backbone of Omani economy
Supporting SMEs is a priority for the
industry’s social investment agenda.
Shell continues to explore different
means to support the SME sector in
Oman, not only through investing
in their training and contracting
opportunities, but also by leveraging
the company’s global expertise andlocal partnerships to better support this
budding sector of the economy.In 1995, the company introduced Shell
Intilaaqah Oman, part of the global
Shell Livewire social investment
initiative. A long-standing initiative,
Shell Intilaaqah Oman aims to support
entrepreneurs by stimulating their
innate imagination, while ensuring they
acquire the skillsets to formulate and
develop their business ideas and make
them a reality. In 2018, Shell Intilaaqah
Oman launched ‘Aspire and Inspire’,
an evolved edition of the two-decade
old social investment programme to
continue empowering Omani talent.
The new interactive platform is
dedicated to entrepreneurs who aspire
to create their own business ventures,
once successful, continue to inspire
their communities, making a positive
impact on Oman’s social and economic
development. The latest edition of the
programme focuses on empowering
participants to take calculated risks to
excel in their business journey, in order
to be able to inspire others by sharing
the valuable lessons they learned along
the way. “To date, we are proud to say
that we have trained 10,000 Omani
entrepreneurs,” says Muna.Safer roads for all
Road safety is an integral part of Shell’s
business in Oman and is an area which
the company believes it can contribute