NCDMB okays N15b for contractor support

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has okayed ₦15billion funding for Contractors Financing Scheme. The board has also scaled up single obligor limit for the initiative from N20 million to N100 million.

The initiative is expected to address critical challenges faced by local contractors’ limited access to funding for contracts awarded by oil and gas companies.

The Executive Secretary of the board, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, who declared this at the opening of the Practical Nigerian Content (PNC) 2024 Forum, in Bayelsa, with the theme: “Defining the Next Frontier for Nigerian Content Implementation” assured that efforts to increase what he described as the ‘spirit of collaboration and resilience that has brought us this far’.

Ogbe said the Nigerian Content Development indices had increased from 26per cent in 2016 to 56per cent by 2024.

While listing key achievements of the board, Ogbe said: “Our enabling law, the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, 2010, charges the Board with a clear mandate: to build the capacity of Nigerian companies and individuals to actively participate in the oil and gas industry. To fulfill this mandate, in 2017, the Board launched the 10-Year Strategic Roadmap, which is built on five strategic pillars and supported by four enablement.

The Executive Secretary highlighted some milestones achieved in the last seven years and unveiled new initiatives that would take the board closer to its 2027 target.

The achievements, he said included the commissioning of Amal Technologies in Idu, Abuja; and the Kwale Gas Gathering facility in Delta State. Approval of 312 Nigerian Content Plans, and 402 Nigerian Content Compliance Certificates (NCCCs) were issued. Due to the new PCAD contracting guidelines which have reduced the touchpoints from 9 to 5, the contracting cycle has been reduced to six-months, he stated.

On strategic partnerships, the Executive Secretary listed feats to include the unveiling of Bell Oil and Gas’ 50,000 metric-ton integrated Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) facility at the Lekki Free Trade Zone, commissioning of 10,000 MT capacity galvanizing plant by Daewoo, establishment of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Park Scheme (NOGaPS) in Bayelsa, Cross River, and Akwa Ibom states.

Commissioning of a 300 MMSCFD gas gathering and injection facility in Kwale, Delta State, in partnership with NedoGas,  commissioning of a 180-metric-ton LPG filling plant in Kaduna, in partnership with Butane Energy and a 100-metric-tonne LPG storage and bottling plant in Katsina State.

For Human Capital Development (HCD) initiative, Ogbe said: “We have initiated cadetship training for 63 cadets on foreign-going vessels in partnership with Shell and PETAN launched an internship Program, which trained 49 graduate engineers, geologists, and geoscientists. Commenced the NLNG Train 7 Project Nigerian Content Human Capital Development (NC-HCD) Basic Training for 331 Nigerians.

“At the Federal University of Owerri (FUTO) in Imo State, we completed and commissioned an Engineering Design Studio and Information Hub in collaboration with NLNG. Similarly, we completed and commissioned an E-Library at the Niger Delta University in Amassoma, Bayelsa State, in partnership with SPDC and its JV partners.”

Speaking on the ‘Back to the Creek,’ an initiative that focuses on equipping youths in host communities with the skills needed to meet industry demands, directly supporting the local content drive, Ogbe said that this initiative aligned closely with the mandate of President Bola Tinubu, to create the enabling environment for businesses to thrive.