Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, Mr. Denzil Kentebe, says over $10 billion would be invested in the Nigerian economy between 2015 and 2018 in new fabrication yards as well as in floating, production, storage and offloading vessels.
The Executive Secretary, who disclosed this while delivering a lecture to the participants of Course 22 of the Nigerian Defence College in Abuja, said over $5 billion had been invested in the Nigerian oil and gas industry between 2010 to date in the establishment and upgrade of fabrication yards, acquisition of marine vessels, rigs and other assets by Nigerians and setting up of manufacturing facilities by original equipment manufacturers.
Stressing that the successful implementation of the Nigerian Content Act is fundamental to the sustenance of national security because it engages thousands of citizens in productive activities and contributes significantly to the gross domestic product, GDP, he added that the Nigerian oil and gas industry must depend on Nigerian-owned assets and personnel to avoid a scenario where the sector that generates 85 per cent of government revenue is forced to shut down because foreign-owned assets or expatriates have to be withdrawn owing either to insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea Region, diplomatic tensions or break out of an epidemic in the country.
He regretted that the Nigerian oil and gas industry suffered capital flight in the region of $300bn in the first 50 years of operations, while 300,000 Nigerian jobs were exported to the detriment of the local economy.
According to him, that era did not record the establishment of any legacy investment from major industry projects, rather little attention was paid to oil producing communities, forcing some persons to take to militancy, thereby cutting crude production output by one million barrels per day.
The NCDMB boss explained that the Nigerian Content Act was introduced in year 2010 to correct such mistakes and it focusses on maximising the utilisation of Nigerian resources in the operations of the oil and gas industry, integrating oil producing communities into the industry value chain and fostering institutional collaboration.
Other areas of interest, he said, include linking the oil and gas industry with other sectors of the economy, maximizing the participation of Nigerians in the sector and attracting investments.
Kentebe stressed that Nigerian Content was not about ‘Nigerianisation’ of the oil and gas industry but about adding value in-country.
He further explained that the Board’s strategic initiatives had in five years recorded substantial growth in the number of Nigerians trained and employed by the oil and gas industry, increase in the quantum of goods sourced from Nigeria and rise in the number of Nigerian owned assets operating in the industry.
Other positive developments included the increased patronage of SCC pipe mill in Abuja by operating companies and ongoing arrangements to set up four new mills, emergence of several maintenance facilities for vessels and rigs, rise of indigenous players in the exploration and production sphere of the industry and inclusion of capacity development initiatives as major components of projects.
Expounding on the success of the policy, Kentebe stated that countries like Kenya, Gabon and Ghana had started to introduce local content regulations and the Board was supporting their efforts just as the Board had collaborated with the Ministry of Power and Ministry of Communications and Technology in developing their local content policy.
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