Local content growth hits 61% — NCDMB
…set to kick off joint industry capacity audit in Q3 2026
By Precious Mark
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has revealed that local content participation in the country’s oil and gas sector has undergone a massive transformation, surging from less than 5% to an impressive 61% over the last 15 years.
The Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Engr. Felix O. Ogbe, made this disclosure on Monday while delivering his keynote address at the opening of the 25th Edition of the Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG) Energy Week Conference & Exhibition holding in Abuja.
Speaking on the theme, “Shaping the Next Phase of Local Content Growth,” Engr. Ogbe celebrated the milestone achieved via the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act of 2010, noting that Nigerians now comfortably own key industry assets, execute complex projects, and provide vital technical services across the energy value chain.
He, however, issued a stern warning to oil and gas firms operating in the country that have formed a habit of defaulting on their statutory remittances to the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF).
According to the NCDMB boss, a valid NCDF Compliance Certificate has now been established as a strict prerequisite for any operator or service provider seeking to participate in upcoming industry opportunities and regulatory engagements.
“The Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCI Fund) remains a critical vehicle for financing capacity development and other strategic interventions that sustain the growth of our industry.”
“It is therefore unacceptable for any company to withhold, delay, or fail to remit its statutory contributions to the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF). The Board will continue to strengthen its compliance and enforcement mechanisms and will not hesitate to invoke all available regulatory measures to ensure compliance,” Engr. Ogbe warned.
Outlining the roadmap for the next phase of local content development, the Executive Secretary stated that the industry must transition from mere participation to massive industrialisation, manufacturing, and global competitiveness.
To achieve this, he announced that the NCDMB, in strategic alignment with the Presidential Directives on Local Content Compliance Requirements, has partnered with sister regulatory agencies, including NIPEX, NUPRC, NMDPRA, NNPC, and the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS), to harmonise the grading system for ranking in-country capabilities.
Engr. Ogbe also announced that a comprehensive Joint Industry Capacity Audit of local manufacturers and service providers will officially kick off within the third quarter of 2026.
He explained that the audit would systematically eliminate middlemen and third-party intermediaries, improve contracting cycle timelines, ensure direct patronage of genuine local capacities, and identify indigenous players capable of servicing the seven upcoming Deepwater Projects.
Under the new harmonised framework, the NCDMB has adopted five distinct classes of service providers. Class 4 and Class 5, tagged Emerging Players and Rssential Vendors, will form the bedrock of a newly structured vendor development programme designed to transition local enterprises into original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
In terms of human capacity building, Engr. Ogbe highlighted that the Board’s Field Readiness Training Program has recorded remarkable traction, with over 20,000 young Nigerians currently registered and awaiting selection tests across 10 high-demand technical skill areas.
He lauded operators and service companies that have stepped forward to provide essential On-the-Job Training (OJT) structures for the participants.
Providing updates on the widely acclaimed ‘Back-to-the-Creek’ Initiative, the Executive Secretary confirmed that project sites have been secured in Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers states, with facility designs completed ahead of imminent construction.
He added that just last week, the Board’s Cradle-to-Career Academic Excellence Recognition scheme rewarded the first batch of 500 secondary school students from underserved communities in Delta State, with an additional 500 beneficiaries targeted to be drawn before the end of the current quarter.
While concluding his address, the NCDMB chief stressed the codependent link between project implementation and local content survival, popularising the industry maxim: “No projects; no local content.”
He maintained that domestic manufacturing and technical asset creation cannot thrive in isolation without massive capital investments and continuous asset execution.
To accelerate project pipelines, the Board strongly advocated for the institutionalisation of an official FID (Final Investment Decision) Day during flagship energy conventions like NOG or the Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES).
According to him, fast-tracking late-stage investments into actual project execution will trigger immediate opportunities for local manufacturers, expand jobs, and push the oil and gas sector to become a double-digit contributor to the nation’s Gross Dollar Product (GDP) as Nigeria aggressively journeys toward a $1 trillion economy.