DR Congo Turns To Nigeria For Oil and Gas Local Content Blueprint
Princess-Ekwi Ajide
Africa’s energy future may depend increasingly on how well countries build local capacity, and the Democratic Republic of Congo is looking to Nigeria for lessons.
A high-level DRC delegation led by Minister of Hydrocarbons, Simplice Stev Onanga, has arrived in Nigeria to study the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board’s (NCDMB) model for growing indigenous participation in the oil and gas industry.
Receiving the delegation in Abuja on Monday, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, said Nigeria had achieved 61 per cent local content capacity since the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act was enacted 16 years ago.
Lokpobiri said the divestment of onshore oil and gas assets by international oil companies had also opened opportunities for indigenous operators, while stressing that “the solution to Africa’s energy challenges lies within Africa.”
He said Nigeria currently produces more than 1.8 million barrels of crude oil per day, with local firms increasingly taking control of land and shallow-water assets.
NCDMB Executive Secretary, Engr Felix Omatsola Ogbe, represented by the Director of Corporate Services, Dr Abdulmalik Halilu, said the Board was ready to support the DRC in developing a robust local content framework.
The Board is targeting 70 per cent in-country value retention and more than 300,000 direct jobs by 2027, supported by a 10-year strategic roadmap.
Onanga praised Nigeria’s progress, saying the delegation was in the country to witness what had been achieved in oil and gas local content development.
The study tour continues until Friday, with visits to NCDMB headquarters in Bayelsa, Onne Free Zone fabrication workshops, an NLNG supplier session, UniPort Gas Centre, and LADOL/Nigerdock yards.
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