Nigeria Advocates Pan-African Local Content Collaboration

RAYMOND OKOBIA

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has called for deeper collaboration among African nations to unlock the continent’s enormous local content potential and accelerate economic diversification, industrial growth, and sustainable development across the oil and gas value chain.

The position was presented during a strategic engagement in Namibia focused on African Local Content Opportunities and cross-border partnerships.

Representing the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Felix Omatsola Ogbe, Dr. Abdulmalik Halilu highlighted the importance of leveraging African capabilities, harmonizing local content policies, and fostering strategic partnerships among African businesses to maximize value retention within the continent.

Speaking on the theme, “AfricanLocal Content Opportunities: Pathway to Economic Diversification and Development,” Dr. Halilu noted that several African countries have established legal and regulatory frameworks for local content development, creating a foundation for greater regional integration and industrial cooperation. He emphasized that African local content should promote the development and utilization of cross-border capacities and capabilities as a catalyst for the industrialization of Africa.

He referenced key aspirations of the 2025 APPO Ministerial Council Brazzaville Declaration, which encourages African nations to strengthen supplier capacity, support skills development and knowledge transfer, promote joint ventures and partnerships, harmonize local content regulations, and encourage public-private partnerships to enhance African participation in the oil and gas industry.

Dr. Halilu further showcased existing African capabilities across fabrication, engineering, manufacturing, subsea services, marine operations, and project execution, demonstrating that the continent possesses significant capacity that can be leveraged through strategic collaboration among African companies and institutions.

Drawing from Nigeria’s local content success story, he highlighted the transformative impact of a data-driven implementation framework, noting the significant growth achieved since the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act. He emphasized that robust data systems, compliance monitoring, supplier development initiatives, and strategic investments have strengthened local participation and enhanced industry competitiveness.

According to him, the future of African local content lies in practical business-to-business partnerships that enable companies from different African countries to jointly pursue and execute major projects. He outlined partnership models such as prime-subcontractor arrangements, incorporated local content joint ventures, contractual consortium bids, and reciprocal market access alliances as effective mechanisms for expanding African participation in large-scale energy projects.

He stressed that realizing a truly integrated African local content ecosystem would require coordinated action across multiple sectors, including regulatory harmonization, trade facilitation, customs cooperation, immigration reforms, and access to sustainable financing. He also endorsed initiatives aimed at creating a Pan-African supplier database and interactive opportunities platform to aggregate and showcase African capabilities.

“The opportunities available across Africa can only be fully unlocked through deliberate and synchronized efforts that enable cross-border service delivery and industrial collaboration. The Brazzaville Declaration represents an important starting point, but implementation, partnership, and policy alignment will ultimately determine the success of Pan-African local content,” Dr. Halilu stated.

He further buttressed that the Board believes that leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework and strengthening cooperation among African institutions and businesses will create new opportunities for indigenous companies to compete, collaborate, and deliver world-class projects across the continent.

During the first panel session, the Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr. Esueme Dan Kikile, shared his views on global best practices, perspectives on strategies for strengthening local participation and maximizing in-country value in the oil and gas industry.

He further implored Namibians to explore practical approaches to supplier development, skill transfer, enterprise growth and sustainable local content with discussions highlighting lessons from successes of other oil producing countries and their various relevance to building a resilient and sustainable oil and gas sector.

During the exhibition tour at the 2026 Namibian Oil and Gas Conference (NOGC), Mrs. Lucia Witbooi, Vice President of Namibia, visited the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) exhibition stand. She was warmly received by Mr. Esueme Dan Kikile, Director of Monitoring & Evaluation, alongside other staff of the Board.

Mr. Kikile highlighted the Board’s mandates and activities, emphasising the significance of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act and its transformative impact on Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. He underscored the importance of regional collaboration and knowledge exchange in advancing sustainable growth across Africa’s energy sector.