At least 53 local oil service firms have accessed the $300 million Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) between 2018 and this year, the Nigerian Content Development Management Board (NCDMB), has said.
The general manager of the agency, Obinna Ofili, stated this on Thursday at a capacity building workshop for the media in Abuja.
He said the $300m fund which is a 1 per cent contribution from all oil and gas firms, domiciled at the Bank of Industry (BoI) on behalf of NCDMB, has recorded successes.
Ofili said local firms can access between $5m and $10m for a five-year tenor at an 8% interest rate which 53 companies have drawn from since 2018 and that three firms have paid back their loans.
Mr Ofili also said as COVID-19 palliative in the oil and gas industry, NCDMB cut the interest rate to 6% with a two-year repayment moratorium which expires by March 2022.
Building the Fund’s success, he said NCDMB has created another $50m fund domiciled with the Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM) to support Research and Development (R&D) Fund Utilisation Protocol for the industry.
The General Manager, Corporate Communications and Zonal Coordination, NCDMB, Dr Ginah O. Ginah, said NCDMB is supporting the development of LPG storage and bottling plants in four states and gas depots in six others to support energy transition.
He said Butane Energy Limited, a firm supported by NCDMB, recently commissioned a gas storage and bottling plant in Katsina to increase gas supply and consumption.
He said NCDMB is supporting other gas storage plants in Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina and Bauchi states while the six LPG depots would be in Zamfara, Jigawa, Gombe, Plateau, Niger and Nasarawa states.
“We are going to use gas to develop our commerce, agriculture and when we are done, we can now develop other sources,” he said.
The Director, Legal Services at NCDMB, Barrister Umah Mohammed, in a presentation, explained the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 2010, spelt out the role of NCDMB in promoting local content capacity in the Nigerian industry.
