Reported by Simon Daniel Yusuph l Journalist at Weng Global
A high-level delegation from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), led by Minister of Hydrocarbons Simplice Stev Onanga, has arrived in Nigeria to study the country’s approach to developing local participation in the oil and gas industry.
The visit is focused on the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) framework, which Nigeria has used to increase indigenous participation in petroleum-sector activities.
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, received the Congolese delegation in Abuja on Monday. The engagement was presented as part of efforts to strengthen knowledge-sharing among African oil-producing countries, including through the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO).
Nigeria’s Local Content Experience
Lokpobiri said Nigeria has reached 61 per cent local content capacity since the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 16 years ago.
The legislation established a framework for increasing Nigerian participation in the petroleum industry, including the development of local companies, skills, services and industrial capacity.
The minister also pointed to changes in ownership within Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. He said the divestment of some onshore assets by international oil companies has created opportunities for indigenous operators, including Renaissance Africa Energy Company, Seplat Energy Producing Unlimited and Oando Energy Resources Nigeria Limited.
According to Lokpobiri, Nigerian companies have increasingly taken control of land and shallow-water operations, although foreign companies continue to play a substantial role in deep offshore activities.
He said Nigeria currently produces more than 1.8 million barrels of crude oil per day.
“The solution to Africa’s energy challenges lies within Africa,” Lokpobiri said, according to reports of the meeting.
How the Nigerian Model Is Funded
A key element of Nigeria’s local content system is the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF).
Lokpobiri said the fund is supported through a one per cent levy on awarded upstream oil and gas contracts. The mechanism provides financing for initiatives intended to deepen Nigerian participation in the petroleum value chain.
The Nigerian model therefore combines legislation, institutional oversight, industry financing and participation requirements as part of its approach to retaining more economic value within the country.
For the DRC, the study tour provides an opportunity to examine how these mechanisms operate in practice and how elements of the Nigerian experience could inform efforts to strengthen indigenous participation in its own petroleum sector.
NCDMB Offers Support to DRC
The Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Felix Omatsola Ogbe, was represented during the engagement by the Board’s Director of Corporate Services, Abdulmalik Halilu.
Halilu said the NCDMB was prepared to support the DRC in developing a robust local content framework.
He highlighted Nigeria’s institutional arrangements, regulatory coordination and long-term planning as important components of the country’s approach.
According to the reports, the NCDMB’s 10-year strategic roadmap targets 70 per cent in-country value retention and more than 300,000 direct jobs by 2027.
The targets illustrate the broader objective of local content policy: moving beyond the participation of local companies in contracts towards developing domestic industrial capacity, employment, technical skills and services around the petroleum value chain.
DRC Seeks Lessons From Nigeria
Onanga praised Nigeria’s progress and said the Congolese delegation was in the country to gain first-hand knowledge of what Nigeria has developed.
“We are proud to be in Nigeria to witness what has been accomplished,” he said, according to reports of the engagement.
The study tour is expected to provide the DRC delegation with practical exposure to Nigeria’s regulatory institutions, industrial facilities and mechanisms for increasing indigenous participation.
The visit also comes against the wider backdrop of African countries seeking to retain a greater share of the economic benefits generated by their natural resources. Local content policies are increasingly being used across resource-producing countries as tools for developing domestic companies, employment and technical capabilities.
However, the effectiveness of such policies depends not only on legislation but also on implementation, regulatory coordination, access to finance, technical capacity and the ability of local companies to compete within increasingly complex energy markets.
Facilities to Be Visited
The delegation’s programme is scheduled to continue until Friday and includes visits to several Nigerian oil and gas institutions and industrial facilities.
The planned engagements include the NCDMB headquarters in Bayelsa State, fabrication workshops at the Onne Free Zone, an NLNG supplier session and the University of Port Harcourt Gas Centre.
The programme also includes visits to the LADOL and Nigerdock yards, alongside other engagements connected to Nigeria’s petroleum industry.
These visits are intended to give the Congolese delegation practical insight into how Nigeria has developed local fabrication, supplier participation, skills development and other parts of the petroleum-sector value chain.
Why the Study Tour Matters
The visit highlights an emerging pattern of African countries looking to learn from one another rather than relying exclusively on models developed outside the continent.
For Nigeria, the engagement offers an opportunity to share experience from more than a decade of implementing the NOGICD Act and operating through the NCDMB.
For the DRC, the exercise could provide lessons on institutional design, industry financing, regulation and the development of indigenous companies as it works to strengthen local participation in its own oil and gas sector.
The exchange also fits within broader African efforts to improve cooperation in the energy industry. APPO provides one of the platforms through which oil-producing countries can exchange knowledge and pursue cooperation around petroleum development.
At the same time, the Nigerian figures cited during the visit represent government and NCDMB assessments of local content performance and future targets. They should therefore be understood in that context rather than as an independent assessment of the overall economic impact of Nigeria’s local content regime.
What Happens Next
The DRC delegation is expected to continue its study tour through Friday, visiting Nigerian oil and gas institutions, industrial facilities and service providers.
The immediate focus will be on examining the practical operation of Nigeria’s local content system and identifying lessons that could be relevant to the DRC.
The outcome of the visit could also contribute to further technical cooperation between Nigerian institutions and their Congolese counterparts as both countries seek to expand domestic participation in their respective petroleum industries.
For Nigeria, the engagement provides another opportunity to demonstrate its local content institutions and industrial capacity to an African peer. For the DRC, the central question will be how lessons from Nigeria can be adapted to its own regulatory, economic and industrial circumstances.
Weng Global – Stories beyond borders
Sources
- Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB)
- New Telegraph
- Niger Delta Herald
- Valuechain
- The Daily Torch Media
