The Executive Secretary of Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engineer Felix Omatsola Ogbe, has revealed that for Africa to be an industrial powerhouse, all must collectively and collaboratively embrace talent development, process excellence, research & development, modern manufacturing capabilities and cross-border trade in goods and services.
This was as he disclosed that competence is what gives investors confidence, and capacity is what gives investors certainty.
Speaking as guests speaker at Abuja on Monday during the Nigerian International Energy Summit with the theme, Energy For Peace and Prosperity; Securing our Shared Future and held at the International Conference Center, Ogbe who was represented by Dr Abdulmalik Halilu, Director, Corporate Services, NCDMB, said that it’d aspired to evolve from “local participation” to local mastery, where African companies lead EPC projects, fabricate complex components, and export specialized services adding that “on regional collaboration, Nigeria was actively involved in the design and endorsement of the Brazzaville Accord on a single pan African local content template.
He said:” For Africa to be an industrial powerhouse, we must collectively and collaboratively embrace talent development, process excellence, research & development, modern manufacturing capabilities and cross-border trade in goods and services, adding that Competence is what gives investors confidence and Capacity is what gives investors certainty.
He added, “Our aspiration is to evolve from ‘local participation’ to local mastery, where African companies lead EPC projects, fabricate complex components, and export specialised services, stating that ‘on regional collaboration, Nigeria was actively involved in the design and endorsement of the Brazzaville Accord on a single pan-African local content template.
To understand what “beyond compliance” truly means, the ES marinated that all must reflect on three pillars that determine the continent’s industrial destiny: Competence, Capacity Utilization and Collaboration.
He said that building a strategic, indigenous supply chain that delivers service excellence without compromising standards must involve capacity utilisation, maximising utilisation of domestic assets from fabrication yards to marine fleets, ensuring “Local Content” translates to “Local Mastery and value retention.
” Also, to align, galvanise regional blocs and the private sector to implement a single Pan-African local content template stating that NCDMB’s compliance trajectory has been to first develop regulations, systems and processes that will enable the development of indigenous technologies, strengthening domestic manufacturing, fostering research & innovation, and creating a resilient and globally competitive supply chain.
The executive secretary said that for local content activity to remain effective, the board was training over 10,000 youths to be skilled to provide manpower for upcoming projects in the top 10 high-demand skills, which are geosciences, subsea engineering, QA/QC, marine operations, piloting, automation & controls, and underwater welding. Digitalisation, drilling engineering.
“I am pleased to inform the industry that NCDMB has carried out a detailed revision of its guidelines to reduce contracting timelines, mitigate the transferability of NCEC, remove non-value-adding intermediaries and achieve maximum in-country value retention.
“In conclusion, Local content beyond compliance is not just an energy agenda. It is a development and sovereignty agenda for African prosperity.
“The tripod of Compliance, Capacity utilisation and Collaboration will unlock Africa’s industrialisation powered by energy innovation, technology- powered infrastructure, sustainable operations, manufacturing clusters, AfCFTA-enabled globally competitive supply chains and a workforce prepared for complex high-tech operations.” He said.
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, maintained that their objective at NCDMB was to see how all the local companies would be brought together with Engineerubg, Procuremrnt and Construction Companies to play side by side to value retention in the country.
Maintaining that when he became the Minister of Petroleum, one of the challenges that confronted him was to find out the reason why the EPC left, adding that every time he went to FEC, he was confronted with that question.
Lokpobiri said that the summit should give all the opportunity to chart a way forward. The Minister regretted that most of indigenous companies in the country cannot do deep sea works.
Lokpobiru stated:” Our objective in NCDMB is to see how we can bring all the local companies and EPC together for everybody to play side by side so that at the end of the day, there will be value retention in the country and a requisite capacity that will be built over time.
“When I became Minister of Petroleum, one of the challenges I was confronted with was the issues surrounding local content and the reason why Engineering Procurement and Construction Companies left them. And every time I go to the FEC, I am confronted with why our costs of projects are higher than those of others.
“So we had to tackle that problem, and we found out that the problem was misapplication of the local content. We have to look at how we can truly get local capacity and not drive them away. We had to find solutions, and the solution was to engage with the local companies back and get our cost of projects globally competitive together with our strong indigenous companies.
“The field is big enough for both Nigerian companies and EPC Companies to operate in a globally competitive industry. You will agree with me that local companies today cannot do any work in the deep sea in offshore exploration.
“We have to find a solution, and the solution we found was to engage with the EPC Companies to come back and get our cost of projects globally competitive. We want the Nigerian companies and EPC companies to operate at a globally competitive level.
“We want to have a situation where we will grow the capacity within the Nigerian Companies and support Nigerian Companies that invested on long term projects for sustainable growth. I want to believe that we should be able to find the best way to handle this issue of local content so that Nigerian companies can truly be supported to grow the way we expect them to grow.
“We have made provision for finance to support the local content in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act. Some companies have actually benefited from this NOGICD act, but what I found out when I came on board was that most of those companies didnt know any capacity.
“What they did was to use the money to finance their lifestyles. And the reason why the Minister is the chairman of the governing council is that we will bring real strategic leadership to the applications of that platform, but the good news is that with President Tinubu’s leadership, all these are no more.
“The funding that is available under the act will also be accessible to companies that truly want to build strong companies that will render service not just in Nigeria but outside the country.
“But for us to get to that level, we need human capacity development, and that is why the training that is expected to be done by NCDMB is important. Our space is big enough to accommodate everybody, so let’s discuss here how the local companies can co-exist and create the value and develop local capacity that is needed locally.” He explained.
The Minister of Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, said that natural Gas was not only critical to energy security and pragmatic transition to a lower carbon system but is fundamentally the backbone of industrialisation and economic resilience.
The Minister, who was represented by Mrs Oyekunle Patience Nwakuso, disclosed that unlocking this potential requires more than abundant reserves, infrastructural development or policy declaration.
Appreciating the unwavering support of His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu, whose commitment in economic reform, energy security and industrialisation, he said continues to shape the direction of the Nigerian gas led development agenda, the Minister maintained that for Africa, and particularly for Nigeria, “Gas represent our most immediate scalable and inclusive pathway to economic diversification, industrial growth and shared prosperity.
He continued: “It requires a deliberate and strategic shift in how we conceive, design and implement local content across the gas value-chain.
He assured that Local Content implementation has improved largely by compliance, meeting the prescribed threshold for contractors, labour and ownership, adding that “this has increased participation, facilitated global competitiveness among indigenous gas companies, advanced technological capability for deep sustainable valued retention within our economy.
“In the gas industry, this means developing robust indigenous capacity across engineering and project execution, gas processing, pipeline construction, operations and maintenance. It means ensuring that Nigeria and African companies are not only present in the value-chain but productive, innovative, bankable and export-ready.
“For Nigeria, gas remains the cornerstone of the energy transition plan and broader industrial agenda, from power generation, clean cooking, to fertilisers, petrochemicals, methanol and compressed natural gas. For transportation, the gas value-chain offers a parallel opportunity for job creation, industrial plastering and regional integration.
“These opportunities, however, can be sustained if local companies possess these requisite skills, technology, financing and governance standards to compete at that scale. The government must continue to provide clear, stable and coordinated policies that rewards for capability development and long-term investment.
“Industry operators must imbibe local capacity development into project designing. Financial institutions must innovate to de-risk projects for indigenous firms, our training and reserve institutions must align with skills development, with the technical and digital demand of the modern industry.
“If we get this right, local content becomes the catalyst for the emergence of Africa’s industrial power house.”
