May 20,2021

Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited has commended the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) for its effort to develop local content in the oil and gas industry.

Mrs Ivana Akaraiwe, General Manager- Partners, Authorities and Nigerian Content (GM-PANC), Total E&P Nigeria Limited, made the commendation on Thursday.

He spoke at the ongoing 5th Edition of the Sub-Saharan African International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference.

The three-day virtual conference is being organised by the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN).

Akaraiwe said Total remained committed to development of local capacity and capability in the petroleum sector and had continued to engage indigenous contractors in execution of some of its projects.

She said that some fabrication and engineering works which were hitherto not being executed in Nigeria were now being done in-country through the doggedness of the NCDMB and other stakeholders, including Total.

According to her, the National Content Initiative which is being driven by the Nigerian Content Intervention (NCI) Fund has provided opportunities for many local companies to access funds for project execution.

She said, “Local content has come a long way in Nigeria. There is a great I mprovement in the country’s capability and capacity.

“All set targets will be met if stakeholders continue to collaborate.”

Akaraiwe said Total would continue to train Nigerian youths to boost their capacity and establish them as entrepreneurs to curb unemployment in the country.

Earlier, Mr Simbi Wabote, Executive Secretary, NCDMB, said the NCI Fund had been expanded from $200 million to $350 million to boost its existing loan products.

Wabote explained that access to funding was key to developing local content and participation in the petroleum industry, adding that the fund was being disbursed by the Bank of Industry and the Afri-Exim Bank.

He said : The fund can be accessed for manufacturing, asset acquisition, contract financing, loan refinancing and community contractor financing.

“We have also added two newly developed loan product types.

“These are the Intervention Fund for Women in Oil and Gas and Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) products, which include working capital loans and capacity building loans for PETAN member companies.”

Wabote said the NCI Fund was instituted in 2017 to facilitate on-lending to qualified stakeholders in the Nigerian oil and gas industry on five loan product types.

He said the fund was a portion of the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF), aggregated from the one percent deduction from the value of contracts executed in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry.

On his part, Mr Nicolas Odinuwe, Chairman, PETAN, said the main objective of the association was to ensure that indigenous companies have adequate and commendable participation in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

Odinuwe said PETAN had been in the forefront of advocating for the development of in-country capacities for oil and gas industry in Nigeria, through entrepreneurship training, workshops, conferences, seminars, internship and apprenticeship endeavours.(NAN)