Yemisi Izuora
A delegation from the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has visited the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) on a knowledge sharing and local content benchmarking study, with a view to deepen their understanding of the Board’s local content development practices in the areas of policy frameworks and implementation strategies, among other things.
The delegation, led by the Director of Corporate Affairs at GNPC, Mr. Eric Pwadura, is on week tour of the NCDMB corporate headquarters, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State and was received on Monday by the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe.
Welcoming the delegation, the Executive Secretary remarked that Africa has evolved over the last three to four decades, growing its hydrocarbon resources to over 120 billion barrels of crude oil reserves and 800 trillion standard cubic feet of gas, which constitute over 10 per cent of hydrocarbon resources globally.
He pointed out that as a hydrocarbon resource continent, it is in the national interest of the producing countries to prioritise local content development, paying particular attention to the necessity of reversing the trend of dependency on foreign technology for exploration, field development and production activities. The countries have to look inward for the capabilities to exploit their resources, he said.
Represented by the Director, Corporate Services of the NCDMB, Dr. Abdulmalik Halilu, the NCDMB boss explained the potential of “crude oil as commodity for economic transformation,” noting that Africa has the advantage of a huge youth population, that is, the labour force, which should be made to acquire the requisite skills for industry operations.
He recalled that Nigeria’s local content journey began with the Local Content Division in the defunct Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), managing local content issues in the oil and gas industry through mere policy directives, and transformed into the NCDMB we have today. “We have evolved from a policy to an institution,” he enthused, adding, “NCDMB is the sole agency responsible for local content” in Nigeria.
He disclosed that NCDMB Board introduced the Nigerian Content 10-Year Strategic Roadmap, which comprises five strategic pillars, namely, Technical Capability Development, Compliance and Enforcement, Enabling Business Environment, Organisational Capability, and Sectoral and Regional Markets, as well as five enablers, namely, Funding, Regulatory Environment, Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagement, and Research and Development.
Among strategies for capacity building, Engr. Ogbe listed the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCI Fund), which it operates through development finance institutions like the Bank of Industry (BOI) and Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) to provide single digit loans to service companies. “What we have done is to create that access to make the local service companies competitive,” he explained, adding that the facility has enabled indigenous companies to acquire critical assets and facilities, including marine vessels operating in Nigeria.
He pointed out that when capacities are built, they must be utilised, hence the Board incentivises investments through a policy of First Consideration that favours indigenous companies with demonstrable capabilities.
He advised African countries seeking to broaden indigenous participation in the oil and gas industry that “local content does not compromise standards…it does not mean you have African spec, European spec,” adding, “It’s one global spec.”
In focused presentation on the Nigerian Content 10-Year Strategic Roadmap, Assistant Manager in the Strategy and Transformational Projects, NCDMB, Dr. Zuwairat Asekome, gave highlights of the journey of the Board, beginning with the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, 2010, through successive stages of growth in the implementation of local content policy and monitoring to the present, when it has successfully raised in-country value addition in the industry to 61 per cent.
In his response, Mr. Eric Pwadura expressed profound appreciation for the privilege to participate in a programme for knowledge sharing at the NCDMB, stating, “Even though we have the legislation guiding local content, we have not had the benefit of having a robust local content environment like you have.”
According to him, “If we take our organization (Ghana National Petroleum Corporation), for example, what we have is a local content unit. That’s currently the structure that we have,” adding, “We want to have a deeper understanding of your local content development programme.”
In his remarks, the Director, Monitoring and Evaluation of the NCDMB, Esueme Dan Kikile Esq. noted the high interest of African oil producing countries in local content. “It’s important that we work together; we are happy to continue to share our experience in oil and gas, share our experience in local content,” he stated.
In an opening address, the General Manager, Corporate Communications Division (CCD), NCDMB, Dr. Obinna Ezeobi, explained that “Nigeria and Ghana have had a long history of collaboration in the energy sector, and that the NCDMB and the GNPC have had fruitful interactions at international conferences. He said NCDMB had mentored several African organsations on local content.
The NCDMB, he added, has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Petroleum Commission Ghana, the National Content Monitoring Committee of Senegal (ST-CNSCL), as well as partnerships with related agencies in Mozambique, Angolan, and Namibia.
Other delegates from the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation are Mrs. Jennifer Boateng, Adviser, General Services; Mr. Augustine Bayivella, Principal, Supply Chain and Local Content Development Officer, and Mr. Seidu Salim Braimah, Manager, Supply Chain and Local Content Development.