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| Photo shows R-L: Dr. Obinna Ezeobi, General Manager, Corporate Communications; Esueme Dan Kikile Esq, Director Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr. Abdulmalik Halilu, Director, Corporate Services; Mrs. Jennifer Boateng, Adviser, General Services, GNPC, Mr. Eric Pwadura, Director, Corporate Affairs GNPC; Mr. Augustine Bayivella, Principal, Supply Chain and Local Content development officer; and Seidu Salim Braimah, Manager Supply chain and local content. |
A delegation from the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) visited the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) for a weeklong knowledge‑sharing and benchmarking study aimed at strengthening Ghana’s local‑content practices.
Led by GNPC’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Mr. Eric Pwadura, the team toured the NCDMB corporate headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. They were received on Monday, June 15, 2026, by the NCDMB Executive Secretary, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe.
In his welcome remarks, Engr. Ogbe highlighted Africa’s growing role in the global hydrocarbon market, noting that the continent now holds more than 120 billion barrels of crude oil reserves and about 800 trillion standard cubic feet of natural gas - together representing over 10 percent of global hydrocarbon resources.
He emphasized that producing countries must prioritize local content to reduce reliance on foreign technology for exploration, field development, and production, and to build domestic capacity to fully exploit these resources.
The remarks were included in a press release signed by Dr. Obinna Ezeobi, General Manager, Corporate Communications Division of the NCDMB.
Represented by the Director, Corporate Services of the NCDMB, Dr. Abdulmalik Halilu, the NCDMB boss explained the potential of “crude oil as commodity for economic transformation,” noting that Africa has the advantage of a huge youth population, that is, the labour force, which should be made to acquire the requisite skills for industry operations.
He recalled that Nigeria’s local content journey began with the Local Content Division in the defunct Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), managing local content issues in the oil and gas industry through mere policy directives, and transformed into the NCDMB we have today. “We have evolved from a policy to an institution,” he enthused, adding, “NCDMB is the sole agency responsible for local content” in Nigeria.
He disclosed that NCDMB Board introduced the Nigerian Content 10-Year Strategic Roadmap, which comprises five strategic pillars, namely, Technical Capability Development, Compliance and Enforcement, Enabling Business Environment, Organisational Capability, and Sectoral and Regional Markets, as well as five enablers, namely, Funding, Regulatory Environment, Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagement, and Research and Development.
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| Officials of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) with NCDMB personnel during a knowledge sharing and local content benchmarking visit by GNPC to Nigerian Content Tower |
Among strategies for capacity building, Engr. Ogbe listed the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCI Fund), which it operates through development finance institutions like the Bank of Industry (BOI) and Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) to provide single digit loans to service companies. “What we have done is to create that access to make the local service companies competitive,” he explained, adding that the facility has enabled indigenous companies to acquire critical assets and facilities, including marine vessels operating in Nigeria.
He pointed out that when capacities are built, they must be utilised, hence the Board incentivises investments through a policy of First Consideration that favours indigenous companies with demonstrable capabilities.
He advised African countries seeking to broaden indigenous participation in the oil and gas industry that “local content does not compromise standards…it does not mean you have African spec, European spec,” adding, “It’s one global spec.”
In focused presentation on the Nigerian Content 10-Year Strategic Roadmap, Assistant Manager in the Strategy and Transformational Projects, NCDMB, Dr. Zuwairat Asekome, gave highlights of the journey of the Board, beginning with the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, 2010, through successive stages of growth in the implementation of local content policy and monitoring to the present, when it has successfully raised in-country value addition in the industry to 61 per cent.
In his response, Mr. Eric Pwadura expressed profound appreciation for the privilege to participate in a programme for knowledge sharing at the NCDMB, stating, “Even though we have the legislation guiding local content, we have not had the benefit of having a robust local content environment like you have.”
According to him, “If we take our organization (Ghana National Petroleum Corporation), for example, what we have is a local content unit. That’s currently the structure that we have,” adding, “We want to have a deeper understanding of your local content development programme.”
In his remarks, the Director, Monitoring and Evaluation of the NCDMB, Esueme Dan Kikile Esq. noted the high interest of African oil producing countries in local content. “It’s important that we work together; we are happy to continue to share our experience in oil and gas, share our experience in local content,” he stated.
In an opening address, the General Manager, Corporate Communications Division (CCD), NCDMB, Dr. Obinna Ezeobi, explained that “Nigeria and Ghana have had a long history of collaboration in the energy sector, and that the NCDMB and the GNPC have had fruitful interactions at international conferences.
He said NCDMB had mentored several African organsations on local content. NCDMB, he added, has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Petroleum Commission Ghana, the National Content Monitoring Committee of Senegal (ST-CNSCL), as well as partnerships with related agencies in Mozambique, Angolan, and Namibia.
Other delegates from the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation are Mrs. Jennifer Boateng, Adviser, General Services; Mr. Augustine Bayivella, Principal, Supply Chain and Local Content Development Officer, and Mr. Seidu Salim Braimah, Manager, Supply Chain and Local Content Development.
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