Executive secretary of Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, has called on stakeholders to apply the Local Content initiative beyond the petroleum industry in order to give local companies a boost.
Wabote made the call during a courtesy visit to Dorman Long Galvanising Plant in conjunction with major international oil companies (IOCs), in Lagos.
According to Wabote, “a country with a mono-product economy is at great risk, and we can see its effect in Nigeria today. So, the board is exploring how they can support the government, to extend what has been achieved in the local content for oil and gas sector to other sectors of the economy.”
Investment opportunities abound in other sectors like construction, telecommunications, power projects, and transportation (railway and aviation) that local content policies and strategies can benefit from, he said.
He expressed his pleasure with the in-house facilities at the Dorman Long complex at Agege, but said there was insufficient awareness of the company’s capacity and capability.
He therefore called for improved communication with end-users of the availability of such facilities in-country, giving assurance that NCDMB would do its own part to create increased awareness within the industry of the existence of galvanising facility in Dorman Long.
He charged the company to look inwards and to fully harness its potential, as this would enable NCDMB promote the various jobs the company had capacity to deliver, but said the NCDMB would insist that such jobs were done by the Nigerian companies.
On his part, Timi-Austen Peters, chairman, Dorman Long Engineering Limited, expressed his delight on the NCDMB visit, noting that the visit created a forum for the company to discuss some of the challenges facing it as well as plans on how to make a more positive impact on the economy.
Peters commended the NCDMB and the IOCs for promoting local content in Nigeria and noted that increased local content capacity was a boost to the economy and a means of creating employment.
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