NCDMB targets manufacturing, joint audits to drive next phase of local content
Orisemeke Benjamin
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has announced a strategic shift toward industrialisation, manufacturing, and strict regulatory enforcement to steer the next phase of Nigeria’s local content development.
Speaking at the 25th edition of the Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG) Energy Week Conference and Exhibition Monday in Abuja, themed “Shaping the Next Phase of Local Content Growth,” NCDMB Executive Secretary, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, revealed that local participation in the oil and gas sector has surged from less than 5% in 2010 to 61% in 2026.
Ogbe, however, noted that the next phase must surpass mere compliance to focus on capacity expansion and global competitiveness.
“The next phase of local content growth must go beyond participation and compliance. It must focus on capacity expansion, industrialisation, manufacturing, sustainability, and global competitiveness,” the NCDMB boss stated.
To eliminate intermediaries and boost in-country capability, Ogbe announced that the Board, alongside NNPC, NUPRC, NMDPRA, NIPEX, and OPTS, has harmonised a grading framework to rank local capacities. He added that joint industry capacity audits of local manufacturers and service providers will officially commence in the third quarter of 2026.
According to him, the framework categorises service providers into five classes. Class 4 and Class 5, tagged “Emerging Players” and “Essential Vendors,” will form the bedrock of a robust vendor development programme. This approach aims to provide technical partnerships, financing access, and market guarantees to evolve local vendors into original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
Addressing financial compliance, the Executive Secretary issued a stern warning to operators defaulting on their statutory remittances to the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF).
He emphasised that holding a valid NCDF Compliance Certificate is now a mandatory prerequisite for regulatory engagements and industry participation.
“The Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCI Fund) remains a critical vehicle for financing capacity development… It is therefore unacceptable for any company to withhold, delay, or fail to remit its statutory contributions,” Ogbe warned.
Concluding his address, Ogbe reiterated that local content growth relies heavily on active project development, declaring, “no projects; no local content.” He urged stakeholders to accelerate Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) on critical infrastructure and deepwater projects to help push the industry toward a double-digit contribution to Nigeria’s projected $1 trillion economy.
