Nigerian Economy Records Inflow of $5bn from Local Content

By Ejiofor Alike

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Ernest Nwapa has stated that the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGID) Act of 2010 has recorded an inflow of over $5 billion into the Nigerian economy.
Speaking during the ground – breaking ceremony of the fabrication yard for local integration of Floating Production Storage Offshore (FPSO) vessel in Lagos at the weekend, Nwapa stated that the plan by Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria Limited and Lagos Deepwater Logistics LADOL) base to integrate FPSOs locally was a demonstration that Nigerian entrepreneurs were capable of executing complex projects in the oil and gas industry.

Nwapa expressed his appreciations to Samsung and LADOL for making a public show of the milestone, stressing that it has validated how the vision of President Goodluck Jonathan to transform Nigeria into a modern industrial economy was taking roots in all fronts.

He said the NOGID Act signed in 2010 by President Jonathan was one of the key drivers of the vision.

According to him, the Act provides the strong mandate to the NCDMB to anchor a structural implementation of these provisions, under the supervision of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.

“In recent times and on a weekly basis, the NCDMB has witnessed ground-breaking ceremonies from new facilities, sail-away ceremonies for Nigerian-owned marine vessels and rigs; commissioning of upgraded infrastructure in existing yards; graduation ceremonies for youths under training; acquisition of Exploration and Production (E & P) access by Nigerians or similar strategic activities. So, from Port Harcourt to Calabar; from Onne to Cainman island; from Olokpo to Koko; from Ajaokuta to Abuja and from Snake Island to Ogogoro, modern facilities from fabrication for pipe and equipment manufacturing, machining, for shipbuilding, for training, for Research and Development, for logistics and offshore operations support are coming up all over the place,” he explained.

Nwapa said the ground-breaking for the construction of a fabrication yard for local integration of FPSO was the first step in a famous journey that Nigeria as a nation had been planning to embark on for so many years, with repeated frustrations.

He said the project was the first time the oil and gas industry was bringing such massive investment into the country in one fell swoop.

The NCDMB scribe said the project would allow Total to derive maximum benefits from the Egina project.

“I must say that for Samsung Heavy Industries, this is a major opportunity for them to become the first Korean Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) company to establish a comprehensive footprint in Nigeria. It also give Samsung Heavy Industries a good opportunity to clear the suspicions that they plan to export the Nigerian content scope,” he added.

Nwapa gave an assurance that the federal government would continue to provide the enablers for genuine investors.

Culled from: http://www.thisdaylive.com