February 28 (THEWILL) – The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO) have reaffirmed their partnership to establish African centres of excellence in local content development. Both organisations also encouraged African petroleum-producing countries to develop specialised capacities in core oil and gas services and to patronise one another in their respective areas of expertise.
These discussions took place on Thursday, when the Secretary General of APPO, Dr Omar Farouk Ibrahim, visited the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr Felix Omatsola Ogbe, at the agency’s liaison office in Abuja.
The APPO scribe reiterated the organisation’s proposal to partner with NCDMB to establish centres of excellence in key aspects of the oil and gas industry. He remarked that NCDMB’s oil and gas parks would serve as centres of excellence, accommodating Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and investors from other African oil-producing countries. Similar centres would be established in other African nations. He added that some firms had approached APPO to express interest in investing in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, particularly in the oil and gas parks.
Dr Ibrahim emphasised the imperative for African oil-producing countries to collaborate closely, as none of them possesses sufficient technical and financial capacity to operate independently. He noted that such collaboration would help actualise the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
Referencing Nigeria’s decades of experience in the oil and gas industry, Dr. Ibrahim urged NCDMB to use its capacity-building initiatives and facilities to train technicians and personnel who can work in key areas of the oil industry across Africa. He also invited NCDMB to partner and participate in the 4th African Local Content Roundtable (ALCR), scheduled to be held in Congo and hosted by the Ministry of Hydrocarbons of the Republic of Congo.
He stressed the need for NCDMB to engage more with African oil producers and share its success stories with countries that look up to Nigeria for guidance in local content and oil and gas operations.
According to him, APPO is determined to change the perception that African oil-producing countries must rely on foreign nations and external institutions to harness their petroleum resources. To achieve this, African oil producers must accelerate steps to innovate technology and provide the funding needed for the sector’s operations, with one of the key steps being the establishment of the African Energy Bank.
Dr Ibrahim lauded NCDMB for achieving consistent Nigerian content development over the past 14 years, underpinned by a robust framework and strong political will. He noted that most African nations lack such structures and often subsume their local content policies and agencies under their petroleum ministries or national oil companies.
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr Felix Omatsola Ogbe, highlighted the Board’s strategic support to other African petroleum nations. This includes the memorandum of agreement (MoU) on collaboration signed with the Petroleum Commission of Ghana in 2024 and with Senegal’s National Local Content Monitoring Committee in 2023, as well as capacity-building workshops organised for other African oil-producing countries.
The Board is also projecting and showcasing the capacities of established Nigerian oil and gas service companies to other African nations, opening new opportunities for them in those markets. Engr Ogbe underlined the need for Nigerian service companies to partner with local firms whenever they enter other African countries and to comply with local laws.
Ogbe expressed delight over the proposal to designate the oil and gas parks as African centres of excellence and affirmed that the parks would be completed and commissioned this year, 2025. The Board has already begun inviting manufacturers and other potential investors to apply for shop floors in the parks. He extended an invitation to OEMs and other investors from across Africa and beyond to invest in the oil and gas parks, noting that Nigerian content emphasises the domiciliation and domestication of capacities, not indigenisation.
The NCDMB boss commended the APPO Secretary General for his meritorious service to the African energy industry, particularly in establishing the African Energy Bank, which has its headquarters in Abuja. He urged Dr Ibrahim to continue serving the African oil industry even after the expiration of his tenure at APPO later this year.
Amos Okioma is a Correspondent at THEWILL
