TheCable

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) says it will create 300,000 direct jobs in the oil and gas industry by 2027.

Simbi Wabote, executive secretary of NCDMB, said this during a media parley on Friday.

He said the NCDMB also intended to increase local content to 70 percent in the next five years.

Highlighting the achievements of the agency since its establishment, he said Nigeria moved from near zero participation in the oil and gas sector to the point that “our indigenous operators such as SEPLAT, AITEO, EROTON, and others are now responsible for 15% of our oil production and 60% of our domestic gas supply”.

He said the agency also increased in-country value retention from 26 percent in 2016 to 42 percent in 2022.

“Now that Nigeria has a well-established local content in the oil and gas industry such that other nations are even coming to learn from us, we need to now extend it to other sectors of the economy to further drive our National Development growth trajectory,” Wabote said.

“It is important to state here that our plan in NCDMB is that by 2027, we will ensure 70% Nigerian Content; creation of 300, 000 direct jobs; retention of USD$13Bn of the estimated USD$20Bn spend in the oil and gas industry; ensure the domiciliation of major fabrication yards and manufacturing hubs in-country. These are no mean targets we have set for ourselves.

“However, we are confident of hitting these targets, if not surpassing them, because of the can-do spirit of the Nigerian people.”