NCDMB Director urges FG to support capacity of local manufacturers.
The Director of Planning, Research, and Statistics at the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, Abdulmalik Halilu, has advised the federal government to support the capacity of local manufacturers to meet demands.
Speaking on the sideline of the Nigerian Oil and Gas (NOG) Energy Week Conference and Exhibition, Halilu said the federal government should emulate countries like US, China, and Japan in supporting the manufacturing sector in Nigeria.
Halilu said, “The conversation in the last session was looking at the role of manufacturing in local content growth. We came up with different perspectives; about how the government should support manufacturing, and how industrialized economies have been able to develop manufacturing capabilities and producing not just for their country but also exporting to the international markets.
“We have examples of the leading industrialization of the US, China, and Japan accounting for 50 per cent of manufacturing globally. The imperative for such success lies in being able to have the technology, innovation, and manufacturing policies that will drive local production.
“We also talked about the need for us to be able to develop the human capital around manufacturing; the need for the government to subsidize manufacturing, and the need for them to provide the necessary infrastructure to support manufacturing.
“These are examples of why the NCDMB conceived the equipment components manufacturing initiative, which is to give the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) representatives, who are currently their faces in the oil and gas industry, an opportunity to also develop local capabilities for manufacturing.
“We have seen the efforts they have put in and the equipment certificates they have obtained, and we went further to conceive the Nigerian oil and gas pact scheme (NOGaPS) which is an idea to remove the barrier associated with manufacturing. It allows us to build the necessary infrastructure for utility and create the necessary policy instrument that will allow manufacturers to operate competitively while also having the first consideration in the award of the contract.
“We went further to illustrate sustainable funding, access to funds with interests at single digits which is also very important for manufacturing to thrive. Manufacturing is a low-drive business, so you need funding that is single-digit and competitive.”
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Halilu explained how NCDMB has provided the Nigerian oil and gas pact support fund for manufacturers; with $50 million, a single obligor limit of $300 million and five per cent interest for dollar-denominated interests, a nine per cent interest mark for the dollar-denominated transactions.
“If you are occupying a space in the pack, you are not only reducing your startup cost, but you also have access to this funding source. We also explained the Nigerian content intervention fund (NCIF). So far, so good, 10 million dollars for single digit limit. So far, N2 billion have been accessed out of a total of 64 billion that cuts across different business offerings; asset owners have been able to access the funds, and contract financing.
“Manufacturing is only less than 20 per cent, so this is a wake-up call for those that are interested in manufacturing, to know that these funds exist and if your challenge is funding, NCDMB is providing that with single digits. If your challenge is access to land that will allow you to start on time, NCDMB is providing the (NOGaPS).
“We also talked about the technology innovation and development centre which we have set up within Yenagua, our office in Bayelsa.
It provides an opportunity and platform for young talents that have ideas around manufacturing and software and oil field chemicals to come up with those ideas and we support them at various levels and get them to the market. It starts from ideation and then you develop your viable market product through the support of NCDMB, which was also discussed,” he said.
