Congo moves to strengthen local content policy with Nigeria’s oil sector experience

The Republic of Congo is seeking to strengthen its local content framework to create greater opportunities for indigenous companies and ensure that its oil and gas resources deliver more benefits to its citizens.

Congo’s Minister of Hydrocarbons, H.E. Stève Simplice Onanga, said the country was looking to Nigeria’s experience in developing local capacity as it works to improve its own policy for the petroleum industry.

Onanga spoke in Abuja during a visit by a high-powered delegation from the Congolese Ministry of Hydrocarbons and other senior government officials to Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri.

He said Congo was particularly interested in understanding how Nigeria had developed a system that increased indigenous participation in the oil and gas value chain.

“The objective is mainly on Local Content and improving our own Local Content policies in the Republic of Congo. We really wish to develop our Local Content for the benefit of the Congolese people,” he said.

According to him, Nigeria’s experience over the years provided useful lessons for Congo as it seeks to ensure that its petroleum industry creates more opportunities for local businesses and workers.

“It is a great pleasure for us to be here. Our visit is based on the experience you have had over the years, and we are here to understudy your Local Content policy,” he said.

Nigeria’s local content framework has evolved over more than 15 years, with the government seeking to increase the participation of Nigerian companies in activities across the petroleum value chain.

The policy has supported the emergence of indigenous firms capable of providing services that were previously dominated by foreign companies, while also encouraging investment in local skills, technology and industrial capacity.

Responding to the delegation, Lokpobiri said Nigeria was willing to share the lessons from its local content journey with Congo, describing the country as a “brother country.”

He said the development of local content had changed the structure of participation in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, with indigenous companies now taking on more significant roles alongside international oil companies and global service providers.

According to the minister, Nigerian companies have expanded their capabilities across different segments of the petroleum value chain, creating opportunities for greater value retention within the domestic economy.

He also identified the divestment of some international oil companies as an emerging opportunity for Nigerian businesses to acquire assets and infrastructure and deepen their participation in the industry.

Lokpobiri said the experience could be adapted by other African oil-producing countries according to their individual circumstances.

“It is my belief that the solution to solving Africa’s energy problems lies more on Africa,” he said.

“If Nigeria can do it, I believe Congo can do it as well.”

A key part of Nigeria’s local content architecture is the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), which promotes capacity development, technology acquisition, financing and industrial growth in the petroleum industry.

Lokpobiri also explained the funding structure supporting the Board, saying it is financed through a statutory one per cent contribution from contracts in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

He said the funding model allows NCDMB to carry out its mandate without relying on direct annual government funding.

The Congolese delegation’s engagement with Nigerian officials is therefore aimed at gaining practical lessons from the country’s experience as Congo works towards a local content framework that can increase indigenous participation and retain more value from its petroleum resources.

The engagement also forms part of efforts to strengthen cooperation between Nigeria and Congo in the oil and gas sector.