Business
NCDMB, Ghana Petroleum Commission Partner In Capacity Building
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has agreed to partner with the Petroleum Commission of Ghana in building the capacity of the latter in developing its local content, among others.
This is in line with the NCDMB’s long-standing support to African oil and gas producing countries and development of local content in the continent.
NCDMB, on Monday, began a five-day knowledge sharing programme with the Petroleum Commission of Ghana in Lagos, Nigeria.
A statement from the Corporate Communications directorate of the Board says that the engagement seeks to amongst other things establish technical cooperation between the NCDMB and the Ghanaian petroleum Commission through capacity building and learning from the Board’s rich experiences, best practices and procedures in local content development.
According to the Board, part of the objectives are to foster the Petroleum Commission of Ghana’s efforts to institute an effective framework that will enhance compliance and deepen local content in their nation’s oil and gas industry.
The opening day’s activities included a courtesy visit to the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, at the Board’s liaison office in Lagos in which he welcomed the delegation to Nigeria and relayed the board’s unwavering commitment to the development of African local content.
In his opening remarks, Director, Monitoring and Evaluation of the NCDMB, Mr. Abdulmalik Halilu, emphasized the need for close cooperation among African oil-producing countries, noting that the technological and financial challenges facing the industry cannot be solved when countries operate in silos.
He canvassed that African oil producing countries should develop unique and specialized capabilities that would facilitate effective trade amongst themselves, and grow the African economy, as envisaged by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCTA).
Highpoints of the technical cooperation was the sharing of strategies and operating templates covering supplier development initiatives, Nigerian Oil and Gas Parks Scheme (NOGaPS) and the structure and operations of the agency by other key officials of the NCDMB.
Presentations in the later days of the week focused on the operating framework for Nigerian Content planning, research and statistics, succession planning processes, Nigerian Joint Qualification System (NJQS), Biometrics system, human capacity building, institutional strengthening, Nigerian Content Equipment Certification (NCEC) and other templates.
Other themes that were explored as part of the engagement, according to the Board, include the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) operating framework, the Projects Certification and Authorization Division (PCAD) templates and implementing framework, the Monitoring and Evaluation implementing framework and the Community Content Guidelines and Stakeholder Management strategies and many more.
The Board also noted that Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Project 100 companies and the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS), which is the umbrella body of leading international and indigenous oil producing companies in Nigeria, also made presentations at the sessions.
The engagement is ends today with NCDMB and the Commission reviewing a draft memorandum of understanding and protocols for data sharing.
The Tide gathered that the engagement with the Ghana Petroleum Commission agency follows similar sessions the Board has had with the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) and the Mozambique’s national oil company, Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH), earlier in the year.
A statement from the Board’s Directorate of Corporate Communications also added that the NCDMB’s support to the African petroleum industry is propelled by the Nigerian Content 10-year strategic roadmap, which has sectoral and regional linkages as one of its five pillars.
The Directorate noted that a key initiative of the pillar on sectorial and regional linkage is the Board’s close collaboration with the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO).
Under the collaboration, the NCDMB said, it has organized several workshops in partnership with APPO, with the inaugural edition held in 2021 at the Nigerian Content Tower, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, where the idea for an African Energy Bank was mooted by the board, saying that the Energy Bank has now become fully established under APPO, with the headquarters approved for Abuja.
Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa