Connect with us

Business

NCDMB, APPO Recommits To African Local Content Development

Published

9 months ago

on

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), and the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO) have recommitted their partnership towards establishing African centres of excellence in local content development.
The Tide gathered that both organisations were also set to encourage African petroleum producing countries to develop specialised capacities in core oil and gas services, and patronise one another in their respective areas of expertise.
This came to the fore, Thursday, when the Secretary-General of APPO, Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, visited the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, at the agency’s liaison office in Abuja.
Information made available to newsmen by the Department of Corporate Communications and Zonal Coordination of the NCDMB quoted the APPO scribe as having reiterated his organisation’s proposal to partner NCDMB towards establishing centres of excellence in key aspects of the oil and gas industry.
Dr. Ibrahim said the NCDMB’s Oil and Gas parks would serve as centres of excellence, and accommodate original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and investors from other African Oil Producing countries.
“Similar centres would be established in other African countries. Some firms had approached APPO to indicate interest to invest in Nigerian oil and gas sector, particularly in the oil and gas parks.
 “It’s imperative for African oil producing countries to collaborate closely, since none of them had sufficient technical and financial capacity to operate independently. Close collaboration will actualise the noble objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)”, the APPO Scribe said.
Using Nigeria’s decades of experience in the oil and gas industry as reference point, Ibrahim charged NCDMB to use its capacity building initiatives and facilities to train technicians and personnel who can work in key areas of the Oil and Gas industry across Africa.
He also invited the NCDMB to partner and participate in the 4th African Local Content Roundtable (ALCR), planned to hold in Congo, and expected to be hosted by the Ministry of Hydrocarbons of the Republic of Congo.
According to him, there is the need for the Board to reach out more to African Oil producers, sharing its success stories with those countries that looked up to Nigeria for guidance in local content, Oil and Gas operations.
APPO, he said, was determined to change the perception that African Oil producing countries would continue to rely on foreign nations and external institutions to harness their petroleum resources.
“Africa Oil producers must accelerate steps in innovating technology and providing the funding needed for the sector’s operations, one of the steps being the establishment of the African Energy Bank.
“I commend the NCDMB for achieving consistent Nigerian content development in the past 14 years, underpinned by a robust framework, backed with strong political will.
“Most African nations lack such structures, and subsumed their local content policies and agencies under their petroleum ministry or the national oil company”, he said.
In his remarks, the NCDMB’S Scribe reeled out the Board’s strategic support to other African petroleum nations, including the Memorandum of Agreement (MoU) on collaboration it signed with the Petroleum Commission, Ghana, in 2024, and with the Senegalese’s National Local Content Monitoring Committee in 2023.
Other strategic support initiatives of the Board, according to the Board’s scribe, were capacity building workshops it organised for other African Oil producing countries.
“The Board is equally projecting and showcasing the capacities of established Nigerian Oil and Gas service companies to other African nations. We’re opening new vista of opportunities for them in those markets”, Ogbe said.
He underlined the need for Nigerian service companies to partner local companies whenever they enter other African countries, and to obey local laws, expressing delight over the proposal to designate the Oil and Gas parks as African centres of excellence, and affirmed that the parks would be completed and commissioned this year, 2025.
“The NCDMB has started inviting manufacturers and other intending investors to apply and take up shop floors in the parks. And so I want to extend our invitation to OEMs and other investors from across Africa and beyond to invest in the Oil and Gas parks. Nigerian content emphasises domiciliation and domestication of capacities, and not indigenisation.
“I  thank you, APPO Secretary-General for your meritorious service to the African energy industry which has culminated in the establishment the African Energy Bank with headquarters in Abuja, the Nigerian capital city. Secretary-General, continue serving the African Oil and Gas industry even after the expiration your tenure at APPO”, Ogbe added.
Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa
Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Business

PENGASSAN Tasks Multinationals On Workers’ Salary Increase 

Published

3 days ago

on

December 8, 2025

By

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has asked companies in the oil and gas sector to undertake urgent review of salaries of their workers in view of the prevailing harsh economic conditions in the country.
Also, the pensioners of Chevron Nigeria, under the aegis PenCoN, have lauded the President of PENGASSAN, Comrade Festus Osifo and his executive on their unrelenting efforts toward addressing pension abnormalities faced by retired workers in the oil and gas industry.
The association also appealed to the federal government to take necessary measures to check banditry and terrorist activities in parts of the country.
PENGASSAN President, Osifo who addressed journalists shortly after the National Executive Council meeting of the association in Abuja, at the weekend, said that though a lot of success has been recorded in negotiating salary reviews for its members, there are still organisations that have failed to lift their workers from the present harsh economic situation.
He said within this period, PENGASSAN has signed numerous Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) which has brought smiles to the faces of its teeming members.
“This is because we recognise that our job, literally, is how to protect the job of our members, and how to enhance their pay,” he said.
Osifo said that operators in the oil and gas sectors always go for the best qualified professionals to carry out their operations.
“So, the same way they recruit the best, we also challenge them to provide the best condition of service and provide the best remuneration.
“Yes, today, a lot of companies will have achieved successes, but there are still few that we are still discussing at their CBAs, that we are not yet there.
“We still use this opportunity to call on these companies that are still foot dragging, that are still holding back, even with the massive devaluation that has occurred in our country, that still don’t want to fix the remuneration of our members.
“We are calling on them to do the needful, because for us in PENGASSAN we will push without holding back. We will push, using everything in our arsenal, to ensure that the needful is done,” he said.
Osifo spoke of the dispute with the Dangote Refinery group, saying there are still pending issues to be resolved.
“Gentlemen of the press, during the networking session, we also looked at the issues that are plaguing some of our branches, and you know that recently, we had some challenges in Dangote Refinery and PetroChemicals Ltd.
“And within this period, since our last National Industrial Action, we have been engaging them in a lot of conversations, but the issues are not fully resolved. There are still a lot of pending issues.
“Yes, the NEC decided that, yes, let us still consummate that process by pushing those issues, by engaging in dialogue to resolve the issues, and by also engaging all our social partners and stakeholders to get the issues resolved,” he said.
Continue Reading

Business

SEC Unveils Digital Regulatory Hub To Boost Oversight Across Financial Markets

Published

3 days ago

on

December 8, 2025

By

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched the Regulatory Hub, a new centralized digital platform designed to streamline collaboration, strengthen oversight, and improve transparency across Nigeria’s financial and capital market ecosystem.
The Commission disclosed this in a statement posted on its website.
According to the commission, the platform connects key regulatory and security institutions including the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), enabling them to exchange information securely and in real time.
The launch of this regulatory hub comes ahead of the implementation of new tax laws in January 2026, with agencies such as the FIRS spreading its tentacles across sector to monitor compliance.
According to the SEC Director-General, Emomotimi Agama, the launch marks a significant step toward modernizing Nigeria’s regulatory framework through technology.
“The Regulatory Hub is a major step in our commitment to leverage technology for stronger regulatory synergy. By connecting regulators on one platform, we are building resilience, enhancing market integrity, and promoting investor confidence,” he said.
The SEC said the platform would help reduce bottlenecks in regulatory processes and facilitate faster, more informed decision-making across agencies.
Reinforcing the DG’s comments, the Executive Commissioner, Operations, Bola Ajomale, highlighted the operational benefits of the new system.
“The platform will significantly improve the timeliness and quality of regulatory decision-making. It provides a single window for regulators to share data, respond to requests, and collaborate seamlessly in safeguarding our financial and capital markets,” he said.
The commission believes the Regulatory Hub would support its broader mandate to strengthen investor protection, enhance market stability, and harmonize regulatory activities across the financial sector.
It urged stakeholders to initiate interest by emailing the Commission, adding that once registered, participants would be able to access the Hub and take advantage of its features.
Continue Reading

Business

NAFDAC Decries Circulation Of Prohibited Food Items In markets …….Orders Vendors’ Immediate Cessation Of Dealings With Products 

Published

3 days ago

on

December 8, 2025

By

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised an alarm over the growing circulation of banned food products across markets in the country.
The agency, in a Press Release dated 6 December 2025, warned that these items including pasta, noodles, sugar and tomato paste are expressly listed on the Federal Government’s Customs Prohibition List and are illegal to import.
NAFDAC stated that the sale and distribution of such prohibited items violate national trade laws, compromise the integrity of Nigeria’s food control system, and pose significant public health risks, as they have not undergone the agency’s mandatory safety and quality evaluations.

Importers, market traders, and supermarket operators have therefore, been directed to immediately cease all dealings in these items and to notify their supply chain partners to halt transactions involving prohibited products.

The agency emphasized that failure to comply will attract strict enforcement measures, including seizure and destruction of goods, suspension or revocation of operational licences, and prosecution under relevant laws.

The statement said “The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised an alarm over the growing incidence of smuggling, sale, and distribution of regulated food products such as pasta, noodles, sugar, and tomato paste currently found in markets across the country.

“These products are expressly listed on the Federal Government’s Customs Prohibition List and are not permitted for importation”.

NAFDAC also called on other government bodies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service(NIS) Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Shippers Council, and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), to collaborate in enforcing the ban on these unsafe products.

By: Lady Godknows Ogbulu
Continue Reading

Trending