132 Nigerian firms secured N51.7bn, $359m in local content funds – NCDMB

A total of 132 Nigerian companies have accessed N51.785bn and $359.653m from local content intervention funds aimed at promoting indigenous participation in the country’s oil and gas sector, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board has disclosed.

The funding, designed to strengthen the capacity of Nigerian firms, includes the $350 million Nigerian Content Intervention Fund, the $50 million Working Capital Fund, which is supported by NEXIM Bank, and the Women in Oil and Gas Fund.

Fresh data released by the NCDMB on Monday showed that three manufacturing firms received N7.561bn, 38 companies secured N22.144bn and $205.666m for asset acquisition, 10 firms obtained N2.232bn and $24.728m to finance contracts, while 25 companies benefited from N15.98bn and $115.998 million for loan refinancing.

Speaking at a media stakeholders workshop in Abuja, the NCDMB Director of Corporate Services, Abdulmalik Halilu, said the funding has significantly increased local participation in the sector, rising from 44 per cent three years ago to 61 per cent this year.

“The NLNG Train-7 project alone engaged about 8,000 Nigerians, highlighting the tangible impact of local content policies,” he said.

“Local content is about domestication based on global best practices, not mere indigenisation or promotion of inferior goods,” he said.

Halilu emphasised that NCDMB has two core mandates under the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act: capacity building and enforcement.

“You cannot enforce local content without capacity,” he said. “The Act contains 17 broad schedules and about 300 specific performance indicators.”

He added, “Local content drives industrialisation, job creation, research ecosystem development, ownership of critical assets, sustainable operations, environmental responsibility, and profitable indigenous participation in the oil and gas sector.”

The push for local content dates back to 2001, during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, when a study revealed that the oil and gas industry prioritised revenue over in-country value addition.

This prompted the creation of a Nigerian Content Division within NNPC to promote employment, industrialisation, and domestic capacity.