Wabote: Lack of Local Capacity in Oil Sector Hobbling Job Opportunities in Africa

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, has said that the inability of many African countries to build local competence was partly responsible for loss of massive job opportunities on the continent.

The NCDMB executive secretary who made the submission in his presentation at the 2023 Africa Energy Week in Cape Town, South Africa, therefore noted that African nations seeking to achieve economic prosperity must develop local capabilities.

According to a statement from the organisation, this will help them to process, utilise and export their resources as a means of powering growth and development in Africa.

Specifically, Wabote regretted that most African nations lacked requisite local capacities in key areas of the oil and industry such as Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC).

He listed other areas where African nations needed to ramp up capacity as Fabrication, Installation, Commissioning, and Operation, noting that not taking action has resulted in the loss of job creation opportunities, revenues, skills acquisition, and other aspects of national development.

“A further negative impact is that those broad categories take a significant proportion of the oil and gas industry expenditure, hence it is expedient for oil-producing nations to develop local capabilities that would ensure that those financial outlays are retained in-country,” he explained.

Advising on the strategy for enhancing local content capacity in African nations, Wabote stated that one important plan is to make local content a national agenda and back it with the appropriate legal framework in their respective jurisdictions.

“ This would make it clear to all and sundry that local procurement, fabrication, and manufacturing is a national priority such that all institutions, businesses, decision-makers, investors, and citizens will buy into the vision,” he added.

Using Nigeria as an example, Wabote recalled that the country started with policy directives to deepen local content practice in the oil and gas sector before enacting the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act in 2010.

The promulgation of the law, he said, helped in eliminating the possibility of companies complying with local content requirements in the oil and gas sector on ‘best endeavour basis’.

He listed other strategies for enhancing local content capacity as establishing factual data on current capacities in-country and carrying out gap analysis between current realities and the national vision.

He noted that periodic gap analyses were essential to determine gaps that needed to be closed and the progress being made in the target areas of interest.

Wabote insisted that local content should not be ‘copy and paste’, hence local peculiarities must be factored into programmes aimed at enhancing local capabilities.

The NCDMB boss identified other enhancement tools to include structured capacity building interventions to close identified gaps and funding and incentives.

He described them as essential to implement local content programmes, develop infrastructure, attract new investments, and keep existing businesses afloat.

Speaking further, Wabote highlighted the importance of patronising in-country capacities and capabilities, clarifying that all policies, capacities, and individuals will become frustrated if there is no outlet to engage them and receive rewards for sustainability and growth.

He explained that the board ensures patronage of local goods and services by using the ‘right of first refusal’ principle contained in the Nigerian Content Act and various project certification and compliance monitoring tools.

The executive secretary reiterated that the NCDMB commenced the implementation of a 10-year strategic roadmap in 2018, with the goal of raising the level of Nigerian content in the Nigerian oil and gas industry to 70 per cent by the year 2027.

According to him, as of the end of 2022, and five years into the 10-year journey, NCDMB had achieved 54 per cent Nigerian content level against the target of 42 per cent.

Emmanuel Addeh

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