In the bid to set up domestic local content models, several African countries are studying the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board’s (NCDMB) template.

The board stated this recently while hosting a delegation from the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) on a benchmarking and knowledge-sharing visit aimed at deepening Ghana’s understanding of Nigeria’s local content development framework.

The delegation, led by the Director of Corporate Affairs at GNPC, Eric Pwadura, was received at the NCDMB headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

In a media statement, the General Manager, Corporate Communications Division of NCDMB, Dr Obinna Ezeobi, said Nigeria and Ghana had enjoyed long-standing cooperation in the energy sector and that the board had continued to support peer learning across Africa.

Welcoming the team, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Felix Ogbe, said Africa’s hydrocarbon endowment places a responsibility on producing countries to prioritise local content development and reduce dependence on foreign technology.

He said, “Africa has evolved over the last three to four decades, growing its hydrocarbon resources to over 120 billion barrels of crude oil reserves and 800 trillion standard cubic feet of gas, which constitute over 10 per cent of hydrocarbon resources globally.”

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Ogbe added that it was in the national interest of producing countries to build internal capacity for exploration and production, stressing the need for a shift away from over-reliance on external expertise.

Represented by the Director, Corporate Services of NCDMB, Dr Abdulmalik Halilu, Ogbe said Africa’s youth population remained a key advantage for industrial development if properly equipped with relevant skills.

He maintained that the board had evolved from policy directives under the defunct Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Local Content Division into a full-fledged institution.

“We have evolved from a policy to an institution,” he enthused, adding, “NCDMB is the sole agency responsible for local content” in Nigeria.

He disclosed that the board’s Nigerian Content 10-Year Strategic Roadmap was structured around five strategic pillars, including technical capability development, compliance and enforcement, enabling business environment, organisational capability, and sectoral and regional markets, alongside key enablers such as funding and regulatory support.

On capacity development, Ogbe highlighted the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund, which is administered through the Bank of Industry and the Nigerian Export-Import Bank, to provide single-digit loans to indigenous service companies.

“What we have done is to create that access to make the local service companies competitive,” he explained, noting that the initiative had enabled indigenous firms to acquire critical assets such as marine vessels.

He further noted that the board promotes utilisation of built capacity through a First Consideration policy for Nigerian companies with proven capability.

He added, “Local content does not compromise standards…it does not mean you have African spec or European spec,” adding, “It’s one global spec.”

Ghana’s Pwadura, in his remarks, expressed appreciation for the opportunity to learn from Nigeria’s experience, noting that Ghana’s current structure remains less developed.

“Even though we have the legislation guiding local content, we have not had the benefit of having a robust local content environment like you have. If we take our organisation (Ghana National Petroleum Corporation), for example, what we have is a local content unit. That’s currently the structure that we have. We want to have a deeper understanding of your local content development programme,” he said.

Earlier in his opening remarks, Ezeobi noted that NCDMB had maintained strong partnerships with several African institutions, including memoranda of understanding with Ghana’s Petroleum Commission and Senegal’s ST-CNSCL, as well as agencies in Mozambique, Angola and Namibia.

The leadership of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the Nigeria LNG Ltd have reaffirmed recommitment to deepen the existing close collaboration between the agencies, towards enhancing in-country value addition from operations of the gas processing and marketing company, for the benefit of the Nigerian economy.

This renewed commitment was made on Wednesday when the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NLNG, Engr. Adeleye Falade paid a courtesy visit to the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe.

During the visit, Falade said the company remains focused on deepening Nigerian Content, strengthening indigenous capacity, and retaining greater in-country value across its gas value chain.

He confirmed that the ongoing construction of its Train 7 project had reached 90 percent and pre-commissioning activities had started.

According to him, plans are afoot to commission the new facility in 2027 and increase NLNG’s overall production capacity by 35 percent.

He expressed delight that the Train 7 project had created direct employment opportunities for 16,000 persons on the site, reducing insecurity and positively impacting the nation’s socio-economic stability.

“NLNG values its relationship with NCDMB and remains fully committed to the shared goal of strengthening Nigerian Content in the oil and gas industry. As a major player in Nigeria’s gas sector, we recognise our responsibility to support indigenous capacity, grow local supply chains, and ensure that our activities continue to deliver meaningful value to the Nigerian economy,” Falade said.

In his response, Ogbe, while congratulating Falade on his appointment, promised that NCDMB would support him to succeed in his role.

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He restated that NCDMB and NLNG share a relationship that is beyond regulator and operator, recalling how the Board and NLNG in June 2017 signed the first of its kind Service Level Agreement (SLA) on Nigerian Content project approval timelines and compliance, which later became a template for the oil and gas industry.

Ogbe further charged NLNG to enhance its support for the Brass Shipyard project, which is the capacity development initiative (CDI) on the Train 7 project.

He commended the company for collaborating with NCDMB on the project, which will establish a drydock facility, a key oil and gas infrastructure that will benefit from NLNG’s business as well as the entire country.

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has pointed fingers at marketers for charging non-cost reflective prices, which has pushed liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices as high as N2,100 per kilogram.

The authority disclosed this in a presentation delivered by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rabiu Umar, during an emergency stakeholders’ meeting convened by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources over rising LPG prices across Nigeria, adding that the malpractice was despite significantly lower indicative prices issued by the regulator.

According to the NMDPRA, consumers across the country are paying far above the regulator’s indicative pricing benchmarks due to marketer profiteering and distribution bottlenecks.

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The NMDPRA noted that cooking gas sells for between N1,600/kg and N2,100/kg in the south-west despite an indicative price range of N1,018/kg to N1,177/kg.

In the north-central, LPG prices range from N1,550/kg to N1,950/kg against an indicative benchmark of N1,066/kg to N1,224/kg, while consumers in the south-south pay between N1,400/kg and N2,000/kg compared with an official guide of N1,021/kg to N1,179/kg.

Umar attributed the disparity to “non-cost reflective pricing” by wholesalers and retailers as well as infrastructure constraints affecting product distribution.

Cooking gas price had risen in May to N2,000/kg in Lagos and N1,600 in Abuja.