Business
Content Board Seeks Stakeholders Commitment To Compliance
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) wants stakeholders’ commitment to compliance even as it says local content implementation will bring back Nigerian jobs.
A statement by the Public Affairs Office of the Board in Abuja on Thursday quoted the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr Ernest Nwapa, as making the remarks during his visit to some oil companies.
It said that Nwapa’s visit to Chevron Nigeria Ltd. and ExxonMobil was part of his week-long sensitisation programme to major oil and gas industry stakeholders in Lagos.
Nwapa was quoted as saying that the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGIC) Act was geared toward the establishment of facilities in Nigeria.
It said the implementation of the Act was also aimed at ensuring that the local facilities were patronised so as to bring Nigerian jobs back home.
According to him, the emphasis of the Federal Government with the implementation of the Act is not aimed at only retaining the bulk of the annual oil and gas industry expenditure in the country.
But its ultimate aim was to create employment for millions of Nigerians from the oil and gas industry operations.
Nwapa was quoted as noting that most countries in the world were currently working toward bringing back jobs for their nationals in the wake of the global economic crisis.
The executive secretary was also quoted as saying that this agenda of the Federal Government should be supported by all stakeholders in the oil and gas industry.
He conceded that keeping the cost of production reasonable and meeting work schedules were critical to national revenue.
Nwapa, however, stressed that given Nigeria’s population of 150 million, the oil and gas industry, which is the main stay of the economy, needed to pay special attention to job creation.
The executive secretary explained that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Joint Venture Partners could not employ more than 25,000 persons.
He said that several thousands of Nigerians would be employed if the companies put jobs in the yards of local service companies and encouraged their traditional service providers to build facilities in Nigeria to execute their contracts locally.
Nwapa expressed regret that the preference for importation of almost all the goods and services used in the industry was steadily eliminating opportunities to develop human capacity and infrastructure.
The executive secretary said the consequence of the practice was the impoverishment of our people and stultifying national economic growth.
Illustrating, he said: “Each major offshore production facility contract award to be fabricated in the traditional Asian fabrication yard translates into the export of more than one billion dollar capital from the Nigerian economy.
“Five thousand Nigerian jobs are lost in the two-year engineering and fabrication period and the opportunity to train several thousands other Nigerians within same time frame.
“Such decisions also result in lost opportunity to upgrade existing yards and build new ones, cripple opportunity to attract investments to the facilities and lost opportunities to grow partnerships between local and foreign companies.”
Nwapa stressed that such practice must stop, adding that compliance with the provisions of the Act called for a drastic change in the ways the industry were being run for decades to achieve government’s aspirations.
Nwapa also asked the international oil companies to provide the board with the concrete strategies they had adopted to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Act.
The executive secretary also asked the oil companies to strive to meet the targets set by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke for the industry.
He pointed out that the board was set to invoke the non compliance sanctions prescribed in the Act for defaulting companies.
Nwapa charged the companies to come up with individual strategies of putting work in the yards of Nigerian service companies.
He also asked them to come up with plans to utilise indigenously owned marine vessels and comply with the expatriate quota provisions of the Act.
Nwapa maintained that foreign and local investors would not be encouraged to establish facilities in Nigeria to bridge capacity gaps until the board was convinced that existing facilities were being patronised.
He pledged the board’s unwavering determination to enforce compliance with the Act.
Nwapa added that “we need to demonstrate to bidders and service providers that when you do not comply with the provisions of the Act, you lose out from tenders.”
He also canvassed for a change of the mindset by Nigerians holding executive positions in the oil companies to balance loyalty to employer with a responsibility to align with national objectives when advising and taking key decisions.
In his comments, the Managing Director of Chevron Nigeria, Mr Andrew Fawthrop, commended NCDMB for initiating the engagement, which he said, would build consensus on the implementation of the Act.
He said that Chevron was committed to complying with the Act, but pointed at difficulties arising from the absence of a transition period and insufficient capacity in certain areas.
Illustrating the dilemma in balancing government aspirations, he said: “If you are seeing resistance, it is because we have goals to meet on oil production and gas delivery among other things and failure attracts some penalties.”
In his comments, the Managing Director of ExxonMobil Nigeria, Mr Mark Ward, assured NCDMB that the company would be proactive in complying with the Act.
According to him, you are going to see a different approach from ExxonMobil.
“We will not wait until we get everything right because doing nothing frustrates implementation of the Act,” Ward said.
The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) says it has registered 160 Port stakeholders into its Regulated Port Service Provider and Users platform since the initiative began in 2023.
Executive Secretary, NSC, Mr Pius Akutah, made the disclosure on the sideline of a sensitisation programme by the commission for port operators in Lagos, with the theme, “Regulated Port Service Provider and Users”.
Represented by the Director, Consumer Affairs, Chief Cajetan Agu, Akutah emphasised the significance of the programme for stakeholders.
He said the sensitisation programme was the second edition after its commencement during the last quarter of 2023.
The Secretary said the 160 registered port operators consist of agencies, terminal operators, shipping companies, individual port users as well as service providers.
“We invited the ports stakeholders for enlightening them on the processes for online registration of Regulated Port Service Provider and Users.
“We have demonstrated to them how to register and how to make payment and we were able to present before them the various categories of the registration.
“The rate of payment is also in the registration. The payment of each group depends on the operation. A shipper pays N30,000, terminal operators and shipping companies pay N300,000, truckers also pay N30,000, while some pay N50,000 and N100,000.
“The Council was able to intimate them on the benefits, because port users benefit more as we help to interface on reducing port charges from time to time”, Akutah said.
He said that there was a need to continue to work with port operators to stop delays and eliminate high costs to make the port efficient.
Also speaking, the Deputy Director, Stakeholders, Service, NSC, Mr Celestine Akujobi, said “the sensitisation exercise was important for the council to enable us bring all the port stakeholders together”.
According to him, this is to avoid challenges during the implementation of the council’s responsibilities.
“By the time we introduce sanctions on defaulters, no operators will complain that he or she is not aware of the registration.
“I’m happy with the turnout of this sensitisation. This shows that the operators are well informed of the statutory friction of the council as the port regulator.
“The final implementation will commence as soon as we discover that all the operators have keyed into the portal.
“We are engaging other ports across the country and we’re hopeful that before the last quater of 2024, the council will implement sanctions on defaulting operators”, Akujobi said.
Earlier, Vice Chairman, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwards (NAGAFF), Dr Ifeanyi Emoh, said port challenges were enormous, adding that they originated from some of the government agencies.
Emoh urged the council to look into regulating other government agencies, so that there could be a window through which they can collect port charges collectively instead of indiscriminately.
By: Chinedu Wosu
Chivita| Hollandia (CHI Limited) leading fruit juice and value-added dairy manufacturer in Nigeria has rewarded its long standing distributors at the recently held 2024 Distributor Conference. The event with the theme, “Break Boundaries Exceed Expectations” served as a platform to recognise and reward the exceptional contribution of the distributors and wholesalers who play a critical role in Chivita|Hollandia (CHI Limited) success and business goals for the year.
The Distributor Conference was held in two sessions. While the morning session featured keynote addresses, industry insights and brand immersion experience, the evening session was a cultural display of elegance and funfair that culminated in the award presentation and recognition of the contribution the trade partners made to the company in the 2023 year under review.
A key highlight of the event was the award ceremony which acknowledged outstanding trade partners in various regions across the country. The awards recognized commitment, dedication, and outstanding performance in areas of sales growth, brand promotion, and market expansion.
Eelco Weber, Managing Director, Chivita|Hollandia (CHI Limited), stated that the company’s success story is incomplete without the strong partnerships it has built with trade partners. “Today, we celebrate not only the achievements, but the collaborative spirit that has made our growth possible” he said.
Bola Arotiowa, Chief Commercial Officer, Chivita|Hollandia (CHI Limited), in his statement revealed that, the event which was first of its kind will continue to be an annual meeting to enable the company work more closely with its distributors, share insights and action points, help the trade partners familiarize themselves with the company’s goals and objectives for each year, and serve as a driver for mutual success.
“Our distributors are the backbone of Chivita|Hollandia (CHI Limited). Their relentless efforts in distributing our products, promoting our brands, and expanding our reach across the nation is truly commendable. As the bridge between us and our valued consumers, it is very important to reward their hard work and dedication for being an essential part of the Chivita|Hollandia (CHI Limited) family. Together, we will continue to deliver great products to our conusmers which in turn will deliver value to them”, Mr. Arotiowa added.
Speaking at the conference, HajiyaBilikisuSaida, Chief Executive Officer of Smabirm Nigeria Limited, who won the Outstanding Distributor of the Year in North 1 region, and got a reward of two million Naira worth of Chivita|Hollandia (CHI Limited) products expressed delight at the company’s recognition, and stated that the awards served as a way to inspire distributors to do more and put in more effort, which in turn would help both the distributors and the company to grow.
Other outstanding performance distributors of the year rewarded with a two million Naira worth of Chivita|Hollandia (CHI Limited) stock include, Sunny Chuks Limited for East 1 region, MRS FA & Sons Limited for East 2 region, Hussakas Ventures for North 2 region, Rookee 1388 Ventures for Lagos 1 region, Pik N Pil Ventures for Lagos 2 region, FaithJoe Event Management Limited for West 1 region, and Progress Family Nigeria Enterprise for West 2 region.
The annual Distributors Conference aims to strengthen the bond between Chivita|Hollandia (CHI Limited) and its trade partners. This collaborative approach fosters mutual growth and ensures the continued success of the brands in the Nigerian market.
A global leader in insurance and asset management, AXA Mansard, has supported three female-owned MSMEs with business grants totaling 1.4 million to boost their operations.
This, the company said, is part of its commitment to women and the Medium, Small, and Medium-scale Enterprise (MSME) sector in the country.
The three businesses were successful at the International Women’s Day Pitch Competition, organised in partnership with SME 100 Africa in Lagos.
According to the Head of Marketing, AXA Mansard, Olusesan Ogunyooye, the competition, which is aimed at supporting female entrepreneurs in Nigeria, “is another way AXA is demonstrating its commitment to the causes of women and stimulating the MSME sector in Nigeria”.
The business pitch competition received numerous entries from women across different sectors, but after a rigorous selection process, shortlisted participants were selected to participate in the competition.
Ogunyooye said “the programme provided a unique opportunity for women from various works and socio-economic classes to showcase their innovative ideas and solutions in sectors such as food, tech, fashion, and fragrance, creating an atmosphere filled with excitement, enthusiasm, and a strong sense of community”.
He stressed the importance of investing in women, saying it is not just the right thing to do, but also aligns with AXA’s purpose of acting for human progress.
He explained that AXA believes the future of women should not be at risk, hence investing in their economic empowerment is a crucial part
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