AOW 2026: NCDMB urges African Energy companies to shift beyond resource ownership to sustainable industrial power

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has called on African energy companies and producing nations to transition from passive natural resource ownership into active, sustainable industrial powerhouses.

Speaking at the Africa Local Content Programme during Africa Oil Week 2026, the Board emphasized that the continent’s long-term economic prosperity depends on converting raw oil and gas wealth into in-country industrial capacity capable of competing on the global stage.

Delivering the keynote address on behalf of Executive Secretary Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, NCDMB Director of Corporate Services Dr. Abdulmalik Halilu stated that African businesses must focus on value retention rather than extraction alone.

He stressed that forward-looking local content frameworks must champion the development and cross-border utilization of African capabilities, ensuring that domestic enterprises evolve into major industrial drivers that enhance gross domestic product, drive technological research, and optimize continental supply chains.

The summit, organized in partnership with the African Union and the Petroleum Commission Ghana, centered on dismantling the structural bottlenecks that historically kept African companies confined to low-tier service roles.

NCDMB representatives highlighted that true industrial sustainability requires deliberate investments in research, technology adoption, domestic asset ownership, and high-skilled workforce development to anchor complex engineering operations locally.

To support this transition, Board officials emphasized the urgent need for competitive financing models and regulatory stability across regional markets.

Citing the success of Nigeria’s Content Intervention Fund, the Board urged regional stakeholders to establish dedicated capital pathways and harmonized regional policies under frameworks like the Brazzaville Accord.