Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Content and Development Board (NCDMB) intervention fund has increased by 75 per cent to $350 million in one year.
This was revealed by the Executive Secretary of the board, Mr Simbi Wabote, at the Nigerian Bar Association-Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) and NCDMB Colloquium on Wednesday.
The NCDMB chief, while delivering his keynote address at the conference titled NOGICD Act: Strides Challenges and Opportunities, said that the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCIF) increased from $200 million to $350 million in the last 12 months.
According to him, the increment came with additional products for working capital and for women in the oil and gas sector.
Mr Wabote also revealed that a forensic audit of the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) remittances has been held, leading to recoveries close to $100 million.
He said that the agency had successfully exited appropriation since 2018 and that it intends to maintain its self-funding status through the prudent management of the NCDF entrusted in its care.
Listing some of NCDMB’s achievements since its establishment in 2010, Mr Wabote said the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act has restored hope to the nation’s oil and gas industry as no country can survive under the negative trend of capital flight, loss of jobs and community discontentment.
“Since inception in 2010, the implementation of the act has resulted in 35 per cent of in-country value retention compared to the less than 5 per cent value retention before the NOGICD Act.
“Before the act, we had an annual spend of $20 billion with little or nothing retained in-country. Today, I can confidently say that we spend over $6 billion in-country annually,” Mr Wabote said.
He continued, “We have 2 world-class pipe mills and five impressive pipe coating yards. About 40 per cent of marine vessels used in the oil and gas industry are owned by Nigerians. We have four active dry docking facilities in Port Harcourt, Onne, and Lagos. In cable manufacturing, all cables required in the oil and gas sector are manufactured in-country. Over 50,000 direct jobs have been created on the back of the implementation of the NOGICD Act.
“We have 76 operating companies and over 8,000 oil and gas service companies pulling their weight in the industry. Our indigenous operators are responsible for 15 per cent of our oil production and 60 per cent of our domestic gas supply.”
“In fabrication, today Nigeria can handle fabrication of more than 120,000 tonnes per year. In cable manufacturing, all cables required in the oil and gas sector are manufactured in-country.
“Over 10 million training manhours have been delivered via our human capacity development programs. No surprise that our indigenous workforce was able to sustain oil production at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown,” he said.
Furthermore, he said that NCDMB in the last four years, had delivered on the completion and commissioning of a 17-storey headquarters building complete with a 1,000-seat auditorium and multi-level car park; completion of 10MW power plant at Elebele Bayelsa State for the supply of electricity to its new headquarters building and the oil and gas park in Bayelsa State, completion and commissioning of the 5,000bpd Waltersmith modular refinery; the Egina FPSO which is the largest in the world was integrated into the SHI-MCI yard in Lagos, STEM Education training for 1,500 teachers in Bayelsa and Katsina States; among other achievements.
Mr Wabote implored members of the bar to position themselves towards taking full advantage of the copious opportunities present in the sector, adding that it would play its part in ensuring proper utilisation.
Despite the challenges present in the global business environment, he said the board will continue to make concerted efforts towards tackling them.
