The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Simbi Wabote, has proposed strategies that would break down barriers and promote cross-border collaboration among governments and businesses.
Speaking at the opening of the 7th SAIPEC Sub-Saharan Africa International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference in Lagos recently, Wabote stressed the need for peer review mechanisms and sharing of experiences and ideas on industry sustainability and growth.
In a statement, NCDMB stated that the event provided a platform for the board to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Technical Secretary of the National Content Monitoring Committee of Senegal.
It noted that the agency would responsible for the coordination and supervision of the development and implementation of the local content strategies in the Senegalese oil and gas sector.
Under the terms of the MoU, NCDMB would offer ST-CNSCL strategic advice and guidance in the areas of laws, frameworks, knowledge exchange, procedures for baseline study, data collection on capacities that exist in Senegal, design of the strategic plan for local content implementation in the country and other capacity development initiatives.
Wabote drew the attention of sub-Saharan Africa’s ministers of petroleum to the relatively high crude oil price levels and upswing potential experienced from 2021 to date and the geo-political dynamics at play, highlighting the challenge for African oil and gas service providers “to partake in the development and maintenance of oil fields,” which could be best facilitated through a deliberate action plan.
In his paper titled “Sub-Saharan Africa Local Content Collaboration Strategies”, Wabote said the action plan under consideration centred on the legal framework, funding, infrastructure, human capacity development, and research and development.
He equally highlighted initiatives and grounds covered by the Nigerian government through the NCDMB in local content development and how other African oil producers could benefit from them.
According to him, a legal framework is an enabling legal or regulatory framework, a basic requirement “to drive and develop local content sustainability… That would be the critical instrument to forge a collaborative Africa local content strategy”.
