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NCCF: NCDMB Sets Up $20m Loan Support For Women In Business
in an open, transparent, and free market environment.
“Thus, our drive as a nation should be early attainment to the Willing Buyer; Willing Seller market status. Any transitional pricing arrangements, today, must be structured to quickly give way for market-led pricing regime and conditions”
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The DPR boss commended President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief H.E Timipre Sylva, for their outstanding leadership in deepening gas utilization in Nigeria.
He said these efforts had culminated in the establishment of the National Gas Expansion Programme, National Gas Transportation Network Code and the National Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme.
Auwalu said it also includes the ongoing construction of the ELPSII, OB3 and AKK pipelines as critical backbone gas infrastructure required to improve gas deliverability and availability.
He said the government was also working towards the expeditious passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) which would enhance clarity in legislative, regulatory, fiscal, and administrative frameworks in the industry.
“This bill, when passed into law, will eliminate the uncertainties and bottlenecks associated with gas development in Nigeria and accelerate the growth of the Nigerian gas market to a fully developed and matured status.
“Specifically, on gas matters, the PIB provides for the following: promotion of dedicated gas exploration and development, gas terms, fiscal separation of gas as a commodity. It will also enhance the domestic gas delivery obligation, tariffing structure & methodology, open access regimes and revised gas pricing framework, to mention but a few,” he added. The virtual Pre-Conference Summit had limited in person attendance at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja of gas players at the highest level and thousands of delegates joining virtually across various platforms, the event which discussed the road map towards a gas-powered economy by 2030 was organized by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and sponsored by the Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG).
As with previous editions, the Nigerian International Petroleum Summit (N.I.P.S) 2021 will also facilitate close interaction with high level political decision makers, government officials, industry specialists, other relevant agencies and the private sector.
Scheduled to hold on the 6th – 10th of June 2021, the co-located international exhibition will allow companies to showcase their expertise and market their goods and services directly to decision makers across the Oil and Gas value chain.
...Emphasizes Need for Increased Women Participation in the Industry
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has announced the setting up of a $20million loan scheme to support women in business especially in the oil and gas sector.
Executive Secretary of the Board, Engr. Simbi Wabote, stated this at a virtual roundtable by the Diversity Sectoral Working Group (SWG) of the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum (NCCF).
In his remarks, Wabote stated that the mandate of the Board has always been the need to promote local content in every sphere of the oil and gas sector.
Quoting Section 57 of the NCDMB Act, he said the role of the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum is to provide a platform for information sharing and support in order to chart way for local content development in Nigeria.
According to Wabote, “The basic aim of the NCCF is to seek how to harness ideas and collaborative efforts for women development with basic emphasis in the oil and gas sector which is why I need to emphasize that this is a purely professional group and not a political group that will begin to advocate for political offices or positions for women.
Speaking further on the need for funding in the local content sector, he said the agency was committed fully in that aspect.
Key enablers to local content development is funding which is why we approached the governing council of the NCDMB and they graciously approved $20 million loan support scheme to support women in business which will be domiciled in the Bank of Industry and collaboratively managed by the BoI and the NCDMB,” he added.
Earlier in her remarks, the chairperson of the Diversity SWG of the NCCF, Mrs. Alero Onosode, said the working group was established to identify areas of collaborations as there are about 9 groups working together to harness value for women in the oil and gas sector.
She added that, “The group has four key pillars of which centers on how to impact the lives of women in the sector as well as research to know the current data of women participation as there is no confirmed data yet,”
Others, according to Mrs. Onosode include: “Policy advocacy and capacity development which will enhance networking and stakeholder engagement.”
She noted that the target is that by the end of 2021, there should be a valuable data of women in business and women in organisation available by the group.
In his closing remarks, The Director of Planning, Statistics and Research of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) as well as the SWG Coordinator, Mr. Patrick Obah emphasised the importance of women in the industry, while reiterating the Board’s commitment to support women-owned businesses and projects. He said:
“First you need to select your project very carefully, from your presentations I can see a lot of beautiful projects that you all are involved in, so careful pick out those very outstanding ones and bring to us, we are ready to support those projects. We will fund them, we will discuss with you and come up with strategies to handle them,” he said
Women Associations present at the stakeholders engagement meeting includes,
*Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN),
*Women in Energy, Oil & Gas (WEOG)
*Women In Energy Network (WIEN)
*SPE Women in Energy Nigeria
*Shell Women Network
*Chevron Women Network
* The Ladies in oil and gas (LIOG)
* The Women in LPG (WiNLPG)
* Women in Geosciences and Engineering (WiGE)
Sylva Inspects Oil and Gas Park, Hails NCDMB
Margaret Nongo-Okojokwu
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva has commended the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) for the quality of work and the progress recorded on the Nigerian Oil and Gas Park being developed by the Board using wholly Nigerian companies.
Sylvia gave this commendation when he led members of the NCDMB Governing Council and other stakeholders to the inspect the level of work done on the site located in Emeyal 1, Ogbia, Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State.
He disclosed that the project is 70 percent completed and will be commissioned before the end of 2022 by President Muhammadu Buhari. “I must say I’m very impressed with what I have seen today. This place used to be a swamp before this time, but a lot of work has been done to bring it to this standard.” The Petroleum Minister explained that oil and gas parks were being developed around the oil and gas producing states to provide opportunities for original equipment manufacturers to produce components that would serve the oil and gas industry and its linkage sectors. Sylva added that the project supports the President Buhari’s agenda on job creation as it would create about 2000 direct and indirect jobs upon completion.
Speaking further, Sylva said,” the NCDMB has done very well; before the establishment of this Board, local participation was about three percent but today they have taken it to over 30 percent and the trajectory is to boost it to 70 percent by the year 2027.”
Sylva applauded the host community for sustaining the atmosphere of peace and urged them to continue to promote peace and tranquility in the community to ensure completion of the project. In his welcome address, the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote commended the minister for his drive towards the success of the project. He hailed the Minister for his devotion and commitment towards the actualization of the massive project and appreciated Mr. President for the support and drive towards opening local manufacturing shop centers within the country.
“The policy of President Buhariled Federal Government towards opening up local manufacturing in the country is one sure way of driving economic development,” Wabote said.
Wabote reiterated that the Nigerian Oil and Gas Park Scheme (NOGaPs) is one of the NCDMB flagship projects which is in line with the Federal Government’s mandate to develop indigenous capacities for the oil and gas Industry.
Solar Power Naija: An Enabler for Economic Growth
The kickoff of Solar Power Naija Programme by the Federal Government on Friday, April 9, 2021, in Jangefe, Jigawa state, is commendable, as the programme will increase access to electricity in the country and lead to economic growth and development, especially in off grid communities.
The programme, which was scheduled to kick off in December 2020, but never did, was formerly launched by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, with funfair in Jangefe. “Getting access to electricity ranks as one of the major constraints for the private sector according to the 2020 Doing Business report. Hence, improving power sector performance, particularly in the nonoil sectors of manufacturing and services, will be central to unlocking economic growth post COVID-19.”
Access to electricity is one of the major challenges hindering the economic growth of the African giant, Nigeria. The World Bank in June last year approved $750 million for the country under what it called “Power Sector Recovery Operation (PSRO)”, to improve the reliability of electricity supply, achieve financial and fiscal sustainability, and enhance accountability in the power sector.
The Bank, however, noted: “About 47 percent of Nigerians do not have access to grid electricity and those who do have access, face regular power cuts. In addition, the economic cost of power shortages in Nigeria is estimated at around $28 billion – equivalent to two percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). As at 2018, access to electricity in Nigeria was 56.5 percent, according to the World Bank, Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL ) database from the SE4ALL Global Tracking Framework led jointly by the World Bank, International Energy Agency, and the Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme.
Solar Power Naija Programme, which will provide solar home systems to 5 million Nigerian households within 12 months, as part of the Economic Sustainability Plan, will deliver electricity to 25 million Nigerians and create 250,000 jobs.
Under the programme, the Federal Government is giving support to Solar Home System manufacturers and the bulk procurement of local meters.
Announcing the kickoff of the programme via his verified Twitter handle, Osinbajo said: “Under our Econonic Sustainability Plan, this power solution programme was designed by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) with the aim of powering 5 Million households through a N140 Billion financing programme for private developers.
“Kicking off in Jangefe, Jigawa state, we have planned a rollout across all 6 geopolitical zones in the country, reaching our 36 states, and ensuring that Nigerians have access to cheap and environmentally friendly renewable power.
“The President had previously emphasized the need to diversify and decentralize power supply, and with the Covid-19 pandemic causing economic fallouts, implementing off-grid solutions like solar power became the best route.
“Through renewable solar power, we can cross off several goals at once – provide accessible power supply, while creating jobs for thousands in the solar industry, as well as those looking to join in.
“This public-private sector partnership is supported by concessionary lending via the CBN and commercial banks. Subsidies and rebates to the tune of $200Million have also been set to ensure affordability for our final consumers – the people.”
The kickoff of Solar Power Naija Programme by the Federal Government, demonstrates its commitments to meeting global target on energy for all. Nigeria is signatory to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN), to which the Goal 7 focuses on ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030. Effective implementation of this programme will accelerate access to electricity in off grid communities, empower rural dwellers economically and help the country to a large extent towards achieving SDG Goal 7.
FG to Sanction Violators of Expatriate Quota Rules -Aregbesola
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has said that the Federal Government was set to sanction any foreign organisation who breached the country’s Expatriate Quota rule.
Expatriate Quota is the total number of quotas given to foreign companies within which to operate in the country.
Aregbesola gave the warning at the 2nd Stakeholders’ meeting on Expatriate Quota Administration in Nigeria at the Grand Pela Hotel and Suites, on Wednesday, in Abuja.
The Minister noted that it had become imperative to impose severe sanctions on whoever breached the country’s Expatriate Quota rules, noting that it had seriously impacted on the rate of unemployment in the country.
“Whoever is not worried about the rate of unemployment in the country is not a patriot. We must be concerned about the high level of unemployment in the country. “This is largely due to the breach of the quota rules by foreign companies, who take up most of the jobs that ordinarily would have been taken by our citizens,” he said.
Aregbesola recalled that he inaugurated a nine-man Special Task Force on business permit on Expatriate Quota Administration (EQA), on Dec. 1, 2020, to investigate, inspect, penalise and enforce sanctions for breaching the utilisation of EQA.
“In Nigeria, whether indigenous joint venture or foreign, this permit and EQ are the best practices globally. ‘’ Every nation regulates its economic relations with other nations, in a mutually beneficial way, but putting its national interest and citizens above others. “All nations of the world, in short there is no nation that can be careless of it because every nation is there to promote, advance, and to protect the interest of its own citizens. “It is a healthy competition that has survived the test of time. If properly and effectively managed, it will lead to technology transfer, manpower development, and rapid industrialisation. “Where nations are careless or unmindful of it, it leads to untold consequences of lopsided and imbalanced relationship, foreign domination, stunted development of the host country’s personnel, and ultimately creates a dependency syndrome,” he said.
The Minister noted that the country had suffered from the syndrome of quota breach to a reasonable degree, due to a non-diligent implementation of the rules and guidelines. “It is also replicable in many African and developing economies. So, this is a very serious national policy, as an average of 30,000 expatriate quota positions are issued and given to about 4,000 companies annually on the average.
“In strict compliance with local content regulations and national interest, therefore, about 60,000 middle level employment opportunities are expected to be created equally and annually for knowledge and skills transfer. “But unfortunately, the country does not seem to benefit from these and the question to ask is that, since we do not have the benefits, how do we organise ourselves to earn it,” the Minister noted.
Aregbesola reminded those behind such practices to desist as the Federal Government had resolved to deal decisively with them.
Also, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Dr Yerima Tarfa, noted that Nigeria had reached a stage where the enabling Act, guidelines, processes, and its monitoring/ evaluation had to be holistically reviewed to achieve local content. Tarfa was represented by the Director of Employment and Wages, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mr Inyamali Audu. He noted further that local capacity that existed, and which held prospective job opportunities for thousands of Nigerians were unlawfully and arbitrarily filled by expatriate firms, especially in the construction and oil and gas sectors.
“The concern is not just that Nigerians are denied the available opportunities in these areas, but many companies actually exceed their legitimate quota”, he said. He urged the Federal Government to rise to the challenge and come up with stringent measures to address the ugly trend, as well as ensuring that the local contents were secured.
(NAN)
