Nigeria’s oil and gas local content achievements dominated discussions on the opening day of the 2025 Namibia Oil and Gas Conference, which commenced on Tuesday in Windhoek, Namibia.
The high-profile event gathered policymakers, international oil and gas operators, service companies, indigenous Namibian firms, and other stakeholders, all united by a common goal — to strengthen local content capacity in Namibia’s emerging energy industry.
Leading Nigeria’s delegation were the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), both present to share insights, foster African collaboration, and open new markets for Nigerian oil and gas companies.
Representing NCDMB’s Executive Secretary, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, the Director of Corporate Services, Dr. Abdulmalik Halilu, delivered a keynote at the Local Content Masterclass. His presentation outlined a roadmap for African oil producers to enhance local capacity, emphasizing research and technology development, job creation, strategic partnerships, value chain optimisation, and greater utilisation of locally manufactured goods — all contributing to GDP growth.
Citing Nigeria’s experience, Halilu highlighted landmark achievements of the NCDMB, including world-class fabrication yards, human capital development programmes, manufacturing initiatives, expanded service sector capacity, financial support schemes, and the development of integration capabilities for floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facilities.
He also pointed to Nigeria’s next phase of local content growth: promoting equipment assembly and component manufacturing, nurturing small and medium enterprises, enforcing R&D and technology transfer, and driving gas-based industrialisation.
Halilu urged African oil-producing nations to specialise in different manufacturing and service niches, akin to the global aviation industry model where Boeing aircraft components are produced in multiple countries before final assembly. Such specialisation, he said, would create competitive advantages, foster intra-African trade, and build a self-reliant industrial base for the continent’s oil and gas sector.
He stressed that local content implementation should be treated as a long-term business strategy rather than a one-off corporate social responsibility project. Regulations, he insisted, must apply to all industry players, with grassroots communities included in capacity-building initiatives. Without continuous development of new projects, he warned, local content growth would stagnate.
Reaffirming Nigeria’s readiness to partner with Namibia and other African nations, Halilu concluded, “We must build an African energy sector that empowers our people and drives shared prosperity.”
The conference also featured a presentation by NCDMB’s General Manager of Human Capacity Development, Esueme Dan Kikile, Esq., who shared further success stories on Nigeria’s human capital investments in the sector.
According to NCDMB’s GM Corporate Communications, Dr. Obinna Ezeobi, the event runs until Friday and will include another presentation by the NCDMB boss on Wednesday, as well as a panel discussion featuring PETAN Chairman, Mr. Wole Ogunsanya.
@2025 The Ameh News: All Rights Reserved
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