Nigerian Content retains $8bn annually, creates 50,000 jobs in 11 years
Lagos -- The implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development, NOGICD, Act has led to an annual retention of $8 billion in the country and the creation of over 50,000 direct jobs in the local economy over the past 11 years, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote, has disclosed.
He stated this in Lagos during separate breakfast meetings with members of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers and editors of newspapers and broadcast stations.
Wabote said the level of Nigerian content in the oil industry hovered around five percent before the enactment of the NOGICD Act in 2010, but added that the focused implementation of the Nigerian Content Law resulted in an increase to 26 percent in 2016 and 42 percent as at December 2021.
He explained that the NCDMB had launched the Nigerian Content 10-Year Strategic Roadmap in 2017, with a target to achieve 70 percent Nigerian content by 2027. As part of this goal, the Board would catalyse the creation of 300,000 direct jobs in the oil and gas industry and linkage sectors, enable the retention of $13 billion out of the estimated annual $20 billion spend in the oil and gas industry and ensure establishment of major fabrication yards and manufacturing hubs in-countr y.
He hinted that a pointer of the marked improvement in Nigerian content implementation is that the local economy used to retain little or nothing from the annual oil industry spend of $20 billion before the NOGICD Act 2010, but, is now able to retain more than $8 billion in-country per year. The improvement is because of the development of critical capacities and assets by local oil and gas service companies and increased domiciliation and domestication of industry operations, he said.
According to the NCDMB boss, Nigeria has also moved from near zero participation in the operations side of the oil and gas sector “to the point that our indigenous operators such as Seplat, Aiteo, Eroton and others are now responsible for 15 percent of our oil production and 60 percent of our domestic gas supply.” Other major accomplishments of Nigerian content implementation include the establishment of two world-class pipe mills and five impressive pipe coating yards, the ability of Nigerian
firms to fabricate more than 250,000 tonnes of steel per year and ownership of more than 40 percent of marine vessels used in the oil and gas industry by Nigerians.
The Executive Secretary further stated that over 10 million training manhours have been delivered via the Board’s Human Capacity Development Programmess, adding that “it was no surprise that our indigenous workforce was able to sustain oil production at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.”’
Providing details of the Board’s provision of credit facilities to the oil and gas industry, Wabote said NCDMB had inaugurated a $50 million Nigerian Content
Research and Development Fund to drive basic research, and seen to the commercialisation of research breakthroughs, establishment of research centres of excellence, and sponsorship of university endowments.
He added that the Board floated a $50 million special loan product for women in the oil and gas business to enable empowerment of the womenfolk in the industry and established another $30 million Working Capital Fund to support oil and gas service companies.
Both the Women and Working Capital funds are managed by Nexim (Nigerian Export-Import) Bank, he said.