NOG Energy Week: Industry leaders endorse NCDMB’s strategies
Sopuruchi Onwuka
Players and investors in the Nigerian petroleum industry have roundly given their support to strategies and activities mapped by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) for effective implementation of the local content policy in the sector.
The Oracle reports that implication of choosing local goods and services over well developed imported ones on the cost of operations in the Nigerian petroleum industry have been the subject of heated debates as commercial profits contend with wider economic growth aspirations of the government.
The local content policy which have been established with the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGID) Act of 2010 and regulated by the NCDMB is conceived use the huge annual petroleum industry operating budget in stimulating local industry job delivery capacity and overall industrial growth in the economy.
The NOGID Act requires that no foreign goods and services would be utilized in the domestic petroleum industry where there is good local alternative, even at a marginal cost premium. And operating companies find the provision of the law as a serious cost element that impact operating profit. And the argument has sustained across years on the desirability of the cost implications of the policy.
At the Nigerian Oil and Gas (NOG) Energy Week in Abuja earlier in the week, industry leaders robustly defended Nigeria’s local content policy, rejecting the demands for operating profits over wider productivity growth that the policy has since triggered in the wider economy since inception.
They cautioned that persistent attention to marginal costs jeopardizes the nation’s industrial progress. The delegates at the conference also lauded the NCDMB for its pivotal role in building indigenous capacity and fostering innovation.
During a panel session titled “Technology as a Business Strategy”, panellists championed NCDMB’s contributions, emphasizing its success in driving local expertise and technological advancement.
Dr. Daere Akobo, Group Chief Executive Officer of Pana Holdings, dismissed critics of local content as arguing that its benefits to Nigeria’s economy far outweigh any perceived cost increases.
“Claims that local content drives up costs are misguided,” Akobo said. “How can you prioritize cost over GDP growth? Where will our youth find jobs? Undermining local content for short-term gains is a mistake. Nigeria must stay the course.”
Akobo highlighted his company’s work on Africa’s first digital refinery, a pioneering project showcasing the synergy between technology and local content. He identified fragmented data in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector as a key barrier to cost efficiency.
“Technology drives accountability and curbs cost inflation,” he said. “But our data remains siloed. Consolidating it is critical for industry efficiency.”
Mr. George Onafowokan, Managing Director of Coleman Cables and Wires, praised NCDMB’s data-driven approach, crediting it for significant strides in local content development.
“Data is the backbone of growth,” Onafowokan said. “Effective data collection and accessibility are vital. Thanks to NCDMB, we’ve achieved 52% local content—a remarkable milestone.”
The panelists unanimously agreed that integrating technology, consolidating data, and strengthening institutions like NCDMB are critical to building a resilient and competitive oil and gas sector. They urged policymakers, operators, and international stakeholders to reject narratives blaming local content for rising costs, advocating instead for robust frameworks and investments to drive inclusive growth and long-term industry stability.
Similarly, representatives from Ghana, and other African nations have underscored the growing influence of Nigeria’s local content framework and urged stronger cross-border policy alignment. They spoke at the just concluded NOG Energy Week in Abuja,
It would be recalled that the Nigerian oil and gas sector’s resurgence is driven by increased production, deregulation, and improved governance. There is therefore the need for long-term sustainability to sustain this momentum.
