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NCDMB targets $360 million revenue from commercial ventures

By Collins Olayinka, Abuja
20 February 2020   |   4:16 am
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), is expected to realise about $360million from its various partnerships in commercial ventures.

Wabote

• Law makers set to review law
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), is expected to realise about $360million from its various partnerships in commercial ventures.

The Executive Secretary of the Board, Simbi Wabote, who disclosed this at a capacity building workshop for members of the National Assembly, in Lagos, listed such ventures as the 5,000 barrels per day Waltersmith modular refinery in Ibigwe, Imo State, and the 12,000bpd Azikel Hydroskimming modular refinery in Bayelsa State.

He added: “Other partnerships include 400,000 units per day LPG Cylinders manufacturing plant at Polaku, Bayelsa State, a 168,000-metric-tonne per annum loading and off-loading LPG terminal in Koko, Delta State, and 48,000 litres per day facility in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, for the production of base oil from used engine oil.”

Delivering a paper, titled, ‘Implementation of Nigerian Content Act: the story so far,” Wabote indicated that Board’s implementation of the Act had resulted in the retention of about $9billion annually from the average $20billion industry spend.
He added that about nine million man-hours had been achieved in training while indigenous players now own about 40 percent of marine vessels that operate in the oil and gas sector.

Commenting on current issues affecting local content development and ways to mitigate them, the Executive Secretary regretted the drought of Final Investment Decisions (FID) on major oil and gas projects.

He recommended that one major project should be sanctioned in the industry every two years interval to ensure continuous use of capacities and capabilities established in-country and sustainability and growth.

This comes as there is a fresh move to tweak the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, according to the Chairman, Senate Committee on Local Content, Senator Teslim Folarin, during the workshop.

He confirmed that the two chambers of the National Assembly have set up a Technical Committee to commence a review of the NOGICD Act, with a view to increasing its relevance to current industry realities, and expand its scope to cover other key sectors of the economy.

He said: “their report will be submitted and considered by our Committees for further legislative action.”

He noted that effective enforcement of the NOGICD Act will enhance in-country value creation and retention and generate employment for Nigerians across the industry value chain, more so now that revenue accruable to the Federal Government from other key sectors of the economy was dwindling.

Folarin, who commended NCDMB for recording landmark achievements in the last 10 years, also pledged that the National Assembly support to collaborate with NCDMB to understand its challenges and that of the industry, with a view to providing necessary legislative support for the Board to enforce the NOGICD Act.

On his part, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring, Hon. Legor Idagbo, underscored the need for improvement in the implementation of the Nigerian Content Act, with a view to increasing the contribution of the oil and gas sector to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Idagbo noted that the House Committee had a robust relationship with its Senate counterpart and expressed hope that it would lead to tangible benefits for the country.

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