Shell Companies in Nigeria and five reputable financial organizations last week signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to make available $5billion support fund for contractors handling projects for Shell in the country.
This came as Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) Limited Joint Venture has stated that it had commenced an inventory of its assets in Ogoni land in Rivers State, in line with the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report.
Shell Companies in Nigeria and five reputable financial organizations last week signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to make available $5billion support fund for contractors handling projects for Shell in the country.
This came as Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) Limited Joint Venture has stated that it had commenced an inventory of its assets in Ogoni land in Rivers State, in line with the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report.
The five organizations, which are to set aside $1billion each to fund the contractors, are Fidelity Bank Plc; First Bank of Nigeria Plc; Access Bank Plc; Standard Chartered Bank Limited and DLR Integrated Services Limited, representing David L. Rose & Associates of the United States.
Speaking after the signing ceremony in Lagos, which was performed by the chief executive officers of the six organizations, Shell's General Manager in charge of Nigerian Content, Mr. Igoh Weli, said the support fund was a partnership for local content development between Shell Companies in Nigeria and the five organizations.
He said Shell embarked on the programme to sustain the growth of indigenous enterprise in the country.
According to him, lack of access to affordable funds has been identified as a major constraint to the performance and growth of indigenous contractors.
In a lead presentation on behalf of Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr. Emeka Nkemakolam of the Oil and Gas Division of the bank, identified the key features of the $5billion fund to include reduced interest rates; reduced loan receipt time; absence of hidden charges; relaxed collateral requirement; account domiciliation; valid Shell Purchase Order (PO) and bank account history of six to 12 months.
He disclosed that under the MoU, each of the five participating financial organizations would set aside $1billion each to support the fund, adding that before the programme was launched, Fidelity Bank had put in place other measures to support indigenous contractors.
To qualify for accessing the fund at Fidelity Bank, Nkemakolam said the contractor must have been in the line of business for at least 12 months or its promoters for a minimum of 10 year's experience.
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