Applicant Expresses Shock, Storms BOI to Verify Offer Letter

By Jerome Onoja

The Bank of Industry (BOI) has revealed that a total of 33 applications for access to the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund have been approved, and a total of 11 have received disbursements. Speaking at a recent workshop in Lagos, the group head for oil and gas, Ms Ebehi Ehi-Omike made this known. She added that, about 5 more disbursements ought to have been added to the list but the bank was still expecting some documentation from the approved applicants.
“We have financed some modular refineries since inception. Though it costs a lot to set one up, it is quite technical too, but we are funding them,” she said.
She further admonished industry players to take advantage of the intervention fund and also make all statutory documentations available.
“I believe we are very open, without unnecessary bottlenecks. You don’t need to know anybody to have access to the NCI fund. Just apply and you will receive the same treatment like everyone across board. Most recipients of the fund have expressed surprise at the level of transparency,” she added. Narrating the experience of a customer who received an offer letter, she said “he walked into our office and demanded to verify the authenticity of the offer letter he had received. He thought it was a scam.
That’s how real and transparent we are,” she quipped.
The Nigerian Content Intervention Fund is a Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) fund managed by BOI. It is a portion of the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) set aside by the NCDMB for the BOI to manage and lend directly to indigenous manufacturers, service providers and other key players in the oil and gas industry, to meet their funding needs. One percent of all contracts awarded in the upstream sector of the Nigerian oil and gas industry is deducted and remitted to the NCDF as stipulated by Section 104 of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act.
The fund is designed to increase indigenous participation in the oil and gas industry, build local capacity and competencies; to promote the growth and development of Nigerian Content in activities connected with sectors of the Nigerian oil and gas Industry; to deepen the creation of linkages to other sectors of the national economy and boost industry contributions to the growth of Nigeria’s National Gross Domestic Product; to address persistent funding challenges that have hindered capacity and growth of local service providers in oil and gas; to facilitate the growth of community based companies in the upstream oil and gas sector; to spur productivity and job creation in the Oil and Gas Industry and to attract investment capital into the sector and boost contribution of the sector to Nigeria’s economic growth.