By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has unveiled a $100 million Equity Investment Scheme among a raft of fresh initiatives to bolster indigenous capacity and participation in the oil and gas industry.

The Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Mr Felix Ogbe, announced this in a keynote address he delivered at the 14th Practical Nigerian Content Forum, noting the $100 million Equity Investment Scheme would provide financing to high-growth indigenous energy service companies, while diversifying the income base of the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF).

In furtherance of the $100 million Equity Investment Scheme, a memorandum of understanding was signed at the event between Engr. Ogbe and the Managing Director of the Bank of Industry, Mr Olasupo Olusi, toward management of the scheme, which is a new product of the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund, NCI Fund.

The NCDMB boss also announced that 61 per cent Nigerian Content level was already attained in the oil and gas sector by the third quarter of 2025 from the projects being monitored by the Board.

Another major announcement was the Board’s readiness to onboard a new set of Project 100 Companies after the successful implementation of approved interventions relating to the first set of Project 100 Companies, launched in 2019, for which an exit plan is slated for April 2026.

Project 100 Companies is an initiative of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the NCDMB under which 100 indigenous companies in the oil and gas industry are nurtured and empowered to higher levels of competitiveness through capacity building and access to market opportunities.

He also said the Board has concluded plans to launch its NCDMB Technology Challenge in the first quarter of 2026 and to hold a Research and Development Fair in the second quarter of 2026. In addition, a review of the Board’s seven current guidelines is to be undertaken between the first and second quarter of 2015.

Mr Ogbe further disclosed that the Board has completed the framework for issuance of NCDF Compliance Certificate, an instrument to confirm that a company in the oil and gas industry has complied with the one per cent remittance obligations. The Certificate will become effective on 1st January 2026 and would be required to obtain key permits and approvals from the Board.

Among recent accomplishments of the Board announced by the NCDMB boss was the expansion of access to community contractors under the Community Contractors Scheme, with over 94 disbursements made in 2025 alone.

In addition, the Nigerian Content Academy has commenced operation as a full-fledged division of the Board, with seven of its Lecture Series on key industry issues already organised.

On human capacity development, he noted that the NCDMB has rolled out its Oil and Gas Field Readiness Training Programme for top 10 skills in high demand, on the back of the surge in final investment decisions, FIDs, on big-ticket projects in the oil and gas industry and over 20 Field Development Plans recently approved by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC. The Programme is to ensure availability of indigenous technical capacity at the take-off of the projects.

The construction of the multibillion-naira Oloibiri Museum and Research Centre, OMRC, at Otuabagi in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State has also taken off, with the execution of a contract between the construction firm, Julius Berger Plc, and OMRC Limited in December 2024, while mobilisation to site was achieved in July 2025. Jointly sponsored by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PTDF, NCDMB, Shell Petroleum Development Company (now Renaissance Africa Energy Limited), and Bayelsa State Government, the project is expected to be delivered within 30 months.

In a presentation, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Local Content, Mr Joel Thomas, expressed concern that some indigenous companies have consistently flouted provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development, NOGICD Act, 2010, as relates to one per cent remittance to the Nigerian Content Development Fund, NCDF.

His counterpart in the House of Representatives, Boma Goodhead, commended the NCDMB for sustaining the PNC Forum and Exhibition over the years and for ably guiding industry drive toward attainment of objectives of the NOGICD Act.

In his ministerial address, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, said the theme of the PNC Forum, “Securing Investments, Strengthening Local Content, and Scaling Energy Production,” captures Nigeria’s national priorities that guide interventions by the Board and his Ministry.

He emphasised that “Investment remains the lifeblood of the energy sector,” and that the Board and the Ministry are committed to providing stable policies, transparent processes, and market-driven incentives, to attract long-term capital. He assured that they would continue strengthening local capacity across fabrication, engineering, technology services, manufacturing of components, and research and development.

On his part, Mr Olusi, said that the collaboration between the NCDMB and BOI marked a significant expansion of a longstanding relationship, while assuring that through the $100 million NCIF Equity Investment Fund, the Bank of Industry will deploy equity and quasi-equity capital to support high-potential Nigerian companies, to complement traditional debt financing and strengthening access to the long-term risk capital required for scale, competitiveness, and value creation.

According to the BOI boss, with a single obligor limit of $5 million, the Fund is designed to catalyze multiple high-impact investments while maintaining strong governance and prudent risk management.

By Dipo Olowookere

It was another bearish outcome for the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on Wednesday due to persistent profit-taking.

The local bourse shed 0.05 per cent at midweek as investors tread cautiously, causing the All-Share Index (ASI) to contract by 78.28 points to 146,862.01 points from 146,940.29 points, with the market capitalisation giving up N34 billion to settle at N93.625 trillion compared with the previous day’s N93.659 trillion.

Chams ended the trading day as the worst-performing stock after it lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N3.06, Haldane McCall declined by 8.88 per cent to N4.00, UAC Nigeria slumped by 8.18 per cent to N80.80, and Sunu Assurance moderated by 6.98 per cent to N4.00.

The best-performing stock for the session was Japaul due to its 10.00 per cent rise, closing at N2.53. Prestige Assurance expanded by 9.40 per cent to N1.63, MeCure inflated by 7.72 per cent to N34.90, The Initiates rose by 7.30 per cent to N12.50, and Consolidated Hallmark gained 6.97 per cent to close at N4.30.

Business Post observed that despite the loss, the market breadth index was positive after Customs Street finished with 28 price gainers and 23 price losers, implying a strong investor sentiment.

The most traded equity was Cutix with 122.9 million units sold for N369.1 million, FCMB exchanged 80.7 million units worth N879.3 million, Consolidated Hallmark transacted 71.2 million units valued at N286.4 million, Fidelity Bank traded 63.8 million units worth N1.2 billion, and Tantalizers had a turnover of 57.8 million units valued at N136.5 million.

In all, investors bought and sold 747.1 million shares for N12.4 billion in 19,161 deals versus the 2.0 billion shares worth N30.2 billion executed in 23,038 deals on Tuesday, indicating a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 62.65 per cent, 58.94 per cent, and 16.83 per cent, respectively.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira depreciated against the United States Dollar by N3.52 or o.24 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) to N1,455.38/$1 on Wednesday, December 8, from the N1,451.86/$1 it was traded a day earlier.

It was a similar story for the local currency against the Pound Sterling in the same market window yesterday as its value shrank by N2.51 to close at N1,937.26/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,934.75/£1 and lost N1.63 against the Euro to settle at N1,692.76/€1 compared with Tuesday’s closing value of N1,691.13/€1.

In the black market segment, the Naira weakened against the greenback yesterday by N5 to sell for N1,470/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,465/$1 but traded flat at N1,460/$1 at GTBank.

The domestic currency faces pressures from increasing year-end Dollar demand as importers and retailers are actively sourcing FX for Christmas and New Year’s sales.

However, this is still stable, reflecting divergent currency dynamics between the regulated official segment and the informal markets as the Naira’s movement remains within the trading band.

This suggests that the FX market is adjusting gradually to seasonal pressures while awaiting further policy signals from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market tumbled despite the Federal Reserve’s decision to trim its fed funds rate range by 25 basis points. Traders were spooked by comments by Federal Reserve’s chairman Jerome Powell who sounded both dovish and hawkish.

While the rate cut is largely anticipated by market participants, looser financial conditions with a resilient US economy could help bolster risk appetite on markets. According to Mr Powell, the US labour market might be weaker than previously thought, while also sounding cautious about gains made in fighting inflation.

Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 7.0 per cent to $0.4311, Solana (SOL) fell by 5.9 per cent to $131.06, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 5.6 per cent to $0.1385, Litecoin (LTC) crashed by 3.9 per cent to $81.26, and Ripple (XRP) declined by 3.7 per cent to $2.01.

Further, Ethereum (ETH) moderated by 3.4 per cent to $3,209.84, Binance Coin (BNB) retreated by 2.6 per cent to $871.20, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 2.5 per cent to sell at $90,316.82, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.