Manufacturers, service providers and other key players in the oil& gas sector can heave a sigh of relief as they now have an opportunity of accessing the $100 million Nigeria Content Intervention (NCI) Fund from the Bank of Industry (BoI) at eight percent interest rate.
The NCI Fund is a pool provided by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to meet the needs of indigenous manufacturers and those who play in support services that impact on the real sector.
At a signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) between BoI and NCDMB in Lagos, Waheed Olagunju, acting managing director, BoI, said industrialisation runs across every aspect of the Content Board. According to Olagunju, disbursement of the managed fund will be anchored on sound and financially-viable model, adding that services that support the real sector have higher chances of being supported by the development finance institution (DFI).
He said capacity building of the bank’s staff will be done when required, assuring manufacturers and players in the oil &gas value chain that BoI always fine-tunes its staff in line with global standards and the needs of entrepreneurs.
“Our mission is to transform Nigeria’s industrial sector. Our major strategy is commodity-based industrialisation and we are talking about adding value to our natural resources,” he said.
“We will begin to promote more projects to ensure they are linked with one another,’ he stated.
Abdul-Ganiyu Mohammed, divisional head, SME (North), said the fund has an interest rate of eight percent, tenor range of one to ten years, maximum moratorium of 12 months from the date of disbursement, and maximum of $10 million obligor limit.
Mohammed said the fund will be utilised to finance existing and intending manufacturers, oil& gas service companies and other original equipment manufacturers in the oil & gas sector.
“The fund will help them procure machinery and ancillary equipment, raw materials and spare parts components, and marine vessels, among others,” he stated.
He said intending beneficiaries that have previously executed contracts in the industry must be up-to-date with their remittances to the NCDF, stressing that BoI will obtain this confirmation from the Content Board before any application can be successful.
The NCDMB was established under the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act of 2010 to increase indigenous participation in the oil and gas industry, build local capacity and competencies, create linkages to other sectors of the national economy, while boosting industry contributions to the GDP.
Patrick Daziba Obah, acting executive secretary, NCDMB, said the MoU reflects the strong determination of BoI and his agency to drive industrialisation and add value to the country’s resources.
According to Obah, the collaboration of his agency and BoI was based on the DFI’s expertise and specialisation as a developmental bank created to drive the industrialisation of the country.
Bank-Anthony Okorafor, chairman of Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), urged the NCDMB helmsman to have a plan of setting up the biggest shipping yard in the country, adding that Nigeria needs to emulate Brazil, which had a deliberate policy in the sector that succeeded in reviving the country’s economy.
Okoroafor urged BoI to make the assessment of the fund seamless and straightforward, stressing the need to disburse it only to genuine companies.
ODINAKA ANUDU
