Wanted: National Policy On Local Contents In African Nations, Says NCDMB
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One of the strategies for the promotion of development in African nations is the deliberate formulation of a national policy on local contents that would be supported by businesses, institutions, decision makers, investors and citizen
This was the position of the executive secretary of the Nigerian Contents Development and Management Board, NCDMB, Felix Omatsola Ogbe. He made his position known while making a presentation at the 2024 African Energy Week (AEW) at Cape Town, South Africa.
Ogbe was represented at the event by the Director, Projects Certification and Authorization Division (PCAD) Abayomi Bamidele. He said with such a policy in place, development would become faster in African nations.
Apart from this, the NCDMB boss also spoke on the need to set aside a week each year for the signing of Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) on new oil and gas projects as part of strategies to increase Nigeria’s crude oil production and enhance revenue accruing to the national treasury.
FID is the final point in an energy project, in which the company or partners owning and operating a project give the final approval for the development, releasing the funding for the commencement.
If adopted, the FID week could be incorporated into the existing annual international oil and gas conferences and would feature international and indigenous operating companies.
He posited that dedicating a week every year for FID signing could compel companies and relevant regulators to fast-track their processes to meet the deadline, adding that the idea was geared to address the insufficient FIDs signed by the operating companies and the limited number of new projects being developed in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
These worrisome developments, according to him, contributed to Nigeria’s dwindling crude oil production and the negative impact on revenue, he said.
Ogbe also announced that NCDMB had applied the Presidential Directives in approving five oil and gas projects which are currently in the funnel. He hinted that the expected production values of those projects are 1 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day and 350,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Other personnel of the NCDMB made presentations at the 2024 edition of the African Energy Week (AEW) on core operations and initiatives of the agency. The officials included Director of Finance and Personnel Management, Mr. Ifeanyi Ukoha, the Manager, Institutional Strengthening, Obongo Dokubo and the Supervisor Upstream, Bashir Ahmed.
He also indicated that the proposal for the annual FID Week has already been broached to Special Adviser on Energy to President, Mrs. Olu Verheijen and the leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and international operating companies and was being considered.
He said the Nigerian oil and gas industry needed to have at least one or two final investment decisions on major projects to be signed every year, to catalyze activity in the local service sector and the national economy and ultimately increase crude oil and gas production and revenue for the country.
