NCDMB deploys initial Project 100 firms, targets annual N1.6 trn value

Sopuruchi Onwuka

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has deployed the first set of 17 firms from its Project 100 programmes into building local capacity for technological innovation for the domestic petroleum industry services.

The agency which regulates local content compliance and a also drives capacity development in the Nigerian petroleum industry weekend unveiled 17 portfolio companies that have successfully concluded research- and innovation-based training at its Technology Incubation and Innovation Centre (TIIC).

With the 17 companies and others that would emerge from the Project 100 companies, the NCDMB declared, Nigeria would now cover additional grounds in it the overall policy aspiration for displacement of significant foreign goods and services with local substitutes.

The 17 companies which had enrolled at the TIIC as energy industry startups were among 54 incubates that underwent the 7-month programme initiated by NCDMB in partnership with the Nigerian chapter of Founder Institute (FI), based in Silicon Valley, California, United States.

Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Engr Simbi Wabote, stated weekend that the agency is working with partners to displace annual importation of some $2.0 billion or N1.6 trillion worth of software requirements consumed in the local petroleum play.

The NCDMB boss whose remarks were delivered by the Director in charge of Corporate Services, Mr. Patrick Daziba Obah, said the agency’s research and development initiative underlies the complexity of the Project 100 programme, especially in forging credible international partnerships and committing investors, potential sponsors and financiers to the programme.

In declaring significant milestone in the local innovation journey, Engr Wabote stated that the NCDMB and its partners had to do something new, emphasizing that the “concept of commercialization of R&D ideas” made some difference.

“I reckon today as one of those days that has brought fulfillment to Nigeria,” he declared at the ceremony to showcase the 17 tech companies.

Director of Planning, Research and Statistics at the NCDMB, Alhaji Abdulmalik Halilu, lamented that “over 70 per cent of our software requirements are met through importation.”

According to him, “under a do-nothing scenario,” Nigeria was losing some US$2 billion annually. 

He pointed out that with over 200 degree-awarding institutions Nigeria is not in short supply of institutional capacity to produce manpower to drive development.

The trend, he noted could be reversed through R&D, highlighting successive stages in the incubation programme at the TIIC, beginning with ideas, development of a business model, field trials and then writing proposals and getting a business registered.

While underlining the relevance of mentorship, he declared that, “we are celebrating them (17 portfolio companies) because they have moved from ideation to the market phase.”

The agency stated that research and innovation endeavours of the companies have yielded products in fields as diverse as pipeline protection technology, embedded systems, drilling fluid additives, gas penetration technology, tele-medicine, electric-powered engines for inland water transportation/charging solutions, among others.

Engr. Wabote recalled that the TIIC was established with the strategic intent to serve as “resource centre for obtaining data on priority research areas in the oil and gas industry; low-cost transition platform to incubate research ideas into tangible products; ecosystem for innovators to think through new ideas for technology adaptation or process improvement; and networking between researchers, investors and end-users in the oil and gas industry and its linkage sectors.”

He expressed confidence that, “following the conclusion of this accelerator program, the innovators are now well-positioned to scale up and commercialize their products.”

He charged the beneficiary start-ups of the incubation programme “to continue leveraging the network exposure and effectively fast-track their products to market, while adhering to all relevant compliance and standards requirements.”

Managing Partner at Matrix Solicitors, Mr. Adebayo Omole, who was a resource person for mentorship, counseled the new portfolio companies to assemble their certifications patents, and operational agreements.

He urged them to deliver on promises, guarantee quality of products, forge collaborations and protect intellectual property.

Managing Director of CYPHERCRESCENT Limited, Mr ThankGod Egbe, advised the incubates to transit form the technical area into marketing communication and related activities.   

Managing Director of Founder Institute, Mrs. Ajuma Ataguba, commended the NCDMB for its initiatives in capacity building and the establishment of the TIIC. She pledged to continue to partner the Board in such endeavors.

The Oracle Today reports that the new companies represent a significant expansion in the capacity-building profile of the NCDMB’s Project 100 Companies designed to nurture indigenous companies into big players in the oil and gas industry through funding and access to markets.