The Chairman, Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Mr. Nicolas Odinuwe, has joined critical stakeholders in the oil and gas sector in Africa to deliberate on how to lay a solid foundation for the design of an African Local Content mechanism to maximise the economic benefits from the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) in the hydrocarbon value chain.
The pan-African engagement themed, ‘Fostering Local Content in Africa for Africans’, was hosted by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in collaboration with the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO) in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
Odinuwe, speaking on behalf of Nigerian service companies, emphasised the role of legislation needed to create a regulatory mechanism to midwife the process and ensure independent funding that would promote small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to drive entrepreneurship and capacity building and promote inclusiveness and integration in the region.
He said that while African content was a relatively need concept, regional cooperation was not, and developing a standard local content framework would involve a conscious utilisation of goods and services available within the continent to exploit and produce Africa’s vast and largely untapped oil and gas reserves.
“The time has come for us to look beyond our local arrangements at the bigger picture, to see how we can harness available resources within our continent for our collective development and the key to unlocking this potential is collaboration”, he said.
He, therefore, advised that the regional local content regulatory model incorporate provisions that will ensure that its minders are people of the right skill set who will help direct capital to where there are opportunities as local content does not always develop commensurately with capital flows.
He commended the efforts of the NCDMB through its committed leadership for the successful implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act which has exponentially grown the capacities and capabilities of Nigerian service companies, including that of PETAN and created synergy among stakeholders through constructive engagements and innovative programmes to encourage and incentivise local companies to form joint ventures with foreign companies to ensure technology transfer as well as the development of young minds in the field of Engineering through Science and Technology Innovation challenges and vocational trainings.
He noted that PETAN’s partnership with the NCDMB and other critical stakeholders have ensured that indigenous companies were creating the needed domestic production linkages to ensure that the extractive industry makes significant contributions to accelerate the economic growth and development of Nigeria and now Africa.
While urging an enabling environment to create a private-sector-led regional oil and gas industry, Odinuwe described the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) as a key enabler which has helped to widen the path for Africa as the next global energy hub with great investment opportunities.
“Governments across Africa”, he charged, “especially the Sub-Saharan Africa oil and gas producing countries should provide the necessary incentives to attract private-sector investments across the entire value chain of the oil and gas industry. Using oil and gas as its critical resources, Africa speedily promotes its development”.
He added that PETAN, as the foremost leading advocacy group of over 300 indigenous oil and gas service companies with over 30 years experience across the entire value chain of the industry will always be ready to partner relevant national and regional stakeholders to share experiences and expertise as well as nurture, mentor and invest in available opportunities across the region and continent.
The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Simbi Wabote, express the commitment of the board to facilitate linkages among all stakeholders in the oil and gas value chain, and thanked participants for their desire to push the envelope for the development of the continent.
Wabote stated that African countries have been fascinated by the remarkable impact and achievements of Nigeria in the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act and the development of its hydrocarbon resources which is anchored on the philosophy of in-country value addition.
He said that this has inspired some African countries to undertake a study tour to Nigeria to understand the NCDMB delivery model with some signing similar local content laws or policies based on insights from Nigeria.
He added that the APPO Charter on Bilateral Cooperation among oil producing countries as well as the signing of the AfCFTA were bold steps which has prompted a new era for the galvanisation of the region towards regional cooperation around developing capacities and capabilities to deliver oil and gas services in the continent.
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, said the government working to create enabling environment for businesses in the sector to thrive, and build wealth for the country.
In his remarks, the Secretary-General of the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO), Dr, Omar Farouk Ibrahim, said that players in the sector were exploring investment opportunities to jump-start a new era in the industry.
It would be recalled that PETAN spearheaded a steering committee at its recently concluded Sub-African International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (SAIPEC) 2021 following passionate calls for regional collaboration and deepening of local content by stakeholders across Africa.
Discussions focused on evaluation of regulatory models for the governance, funding and monitoring of local content implementation in frontline economies, laying a solid foundation for the design of an African Local Content programme to maximise economic benefits from implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) in hydrocarbon value chain and data sharing on capacities that exist around skills, infrastructure, facilities, assets and funding for exploration, field development and production activities in Africa.
Representatives from the African Union (AU), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) attended the event.