Featured, Oil & Gas
…says board has done tremendously well for Nigeria local content
By Anthony Isibor
THE stakeholders at the ongoing Nigeria International Energy Summit, NIES, have commended the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, for its efforts towards promoting local content drive in the country by promoting capacity building.
The stakeholders made the commendation during a panel session on “Building Local Capacity: Pathways for Enhanced Value Retention” at the ongoing Nigerian International Energy Summit, NIES in Abuja on Monday.
Speaking on building local capacity for value retention, Iroghama Ogbeifu, Managing Director/CEO Starzs Investment Co. Ltd said that they remain proud Ambassadors of the NCDMB.
According to her, there were less than 5% of indigenous mining companies operating in Nigeria in 2010 but today the number has risen to 55% through NCDMB’s efforts.
She said that the NCDMB has been able to do that through various means; “First by monitoring & compliance and by ensuring that Nigerian companies were giving opportunities to take advantage of available contract, then secondly, there was funding.
She revealed that although the NCDMB was not created to solely fund the mining industry but for the oil and gas sector as a whole, she runs one of those industries that has benefited immensely from the NCI fund of the Board.
“We qualify for it and we have been paid back what we took. And today, we have seen a lot of mining companies following suite.”
She, however, called on prospective companies to ensure that they follow due diligence and keep to standards if they have to be sustainable.
However, in addition to commending the NCDMB for a job well done, the Managing Director, Coleman Cable and Wires Limited, George Onafowokan, called for deliberate efforts towards balancing investments to ensure that critical sectors also receive the much needed funding to thrive.
George, who explained that 15% of every infrastructure development requirement is suppliesd by his sector, wondered why the Nigerian government does not pay equal attention to cables and wires as much as they do to the oil and gas industry .
According to him, if he is unable to make his products available and affordable then those who need it will have to pay higher.
“So the reality is that we need to make the market a little bit more money for investment, indirectly or directly to be encouraged by whatever we have to make available; both the NCI Funds has to be deliberate to certain areas for infrastructural balancing.
“So if I make 15%, it means that most of the things you do in the oil and gas sector will be affected. You need to be actually deliberate in what you are giving to that sector,” he said.
He therefore called for linkages between the sectors to ensure deliberate balance of investments across boards.
“NCDMB has done the best for us in this industry, but what are the rest of the institutions, agencies doing to actually combine?
“I can make cables for you, but if Abeokuta doesn’t solve steel problems, I am in trouble, if Akwa-Ibom doesn’t work today; (Akabasi), I am still in problem.
“So we need to realize that the NCDMB is just one part of the jigsaw puzzle. The rest of them need to wake up,” he added.
A.I
Feb. 24, 2025
Tags: NIES Nigeria International Energy Summit
