The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCBMB), Engnr Felix Omatsola Ogbe, has reiterated the determination of his board to establish an enabling business environment that will attract more investors to the country’s oil and gas sector.
The NCDMB boss stated this at the NOG Energy Week where stakeholders have convened to discuss and showcase opportunities, drive investment as well as meet energy demand in the oil and gas industry.
According to Ogbe, the event has set the tone for the Board to engage with stakeholders, share the efforts and activities and the progress the board is pushing towards achieving its critical mandates of developing local capacities and capabilities and enforcing compliance with the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act of 2010.
He said the Presidential Directive on Local Content Compliance Requirements issued by President Bola Tinubu early in the year is not just to show how the Federal Government is encouraging and valuing local content agenda but also to further deepen local content in the Nigerian oil and gas industry and to encourage competitiveness, mitigating risks of approving unqualified contractors, improving the approval timeline, creating an enabling business environment in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
“As we are all aware, the Nigerian Content Seminar session of the NOG Energy Week Conference is a flagship programme of the NOG. The Seminar gives the Board the opportunity to engage with our stakeholders and share the efforts and activities we are making at the Board towards achieving our critical mandates of developing local capacities and capabilities and enforcing compliance with the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act of 2010.
“This seminar is also an excellent platform to provide clarity, expositions, tips, and guidance to industry practitioners on the provisions of the Act, the Ministerial Regulations, NCDMB Guidelines, and other tools and initiatives such as Human Capacity Development (HCD), NOGICJQS, Nigerian Content Plan (NCP), Nigerian Content Equipment Certificate (NCEC), Expatriate Quota implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation, Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) Remittances, Nigerian Content Intervention Funds (NCIF), amongst others.
“It is encouraging that the Federal Government values the Local Content agenda. Recall that earlier this year, His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, issued a Presidential Directive on Local Content Compliance Requirements. The Presidential Directive seeks to further deepen local content in the Nigerian oil and gas industry while enhancing competitiveness, mitigating risks of approving unqualified contractors, improving the approval timeline, creating an enabling business environment in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
“Among other obligations, the Board is required to establish procedures for its execution in accordance with the Presidential Directive. I would like to take this occasion to inform you of the procedures the Board has established to execute the Directive. The Board is determined to establish an enabling business environment that will attract more investors to the country’s oil and gas sector.”
The NCDMB boss also revealed that the Board has designated five focal areas for implementing the Presidential Directive which is promoting the utilisation/growth of in-country capacities; enhancing the cost competitiveness of oil and gas projects; the non-inclusion of intermediary entities lacking the essential capacity to perform from the Nigerian Content Plan (NCP); the approval of Nigerian Content Plan (NCP), which consists of contractors that meet the legal definition of Nigerian companies and demonstrate the capacity to execute projects within Nigeria; and entities acting solely as intermediaries, with no demonstrable capacity to execute the project or activity, shall not be approved.
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