The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has unveiled a $100 million Equity Investment Scheme to boost indigenous participation in the oil and gas sector, as local content levels rise from 56 to 61 per cent.
Executive Secretary of the Board, Engr. Omatsola Ogbe, announced the initiative at the 14th Practical Nigerian Content Conference in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, where he also signed partnership documents with the Bank of Industry for the new funding window.
Ogbe said the scheme—now added to the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund—would provide equity financing to high-growth indigenous energy service companies while diversifying the Nigerian Content Development Fund’s income base.
He also disclosed that the Board has concluded arrangements to introduce the NCDF Compliance Certificate from 1 January 2026, which will verify companies’ compliance with the statutory 1 per cent remittance requirement and serve as a prerequisite for key permits and approvals.
According to him, the NCDMB expanded access to its Community Contractors Scheme in 2025, recording over 94 disbursements, and will roll out an exit plan for its Project 100 companies by April 2026 before onboarding a new cohort.
Ogbe further revealed that the Board will review its seven current guidelines between the first and second quarters of 2026, and finalise the legal and fiscal framework for the Nigerian Oil and Gas Parks Scheme to enable the commencement of operations at the Odukpani and Emeyal 1 parks.
He confirmed that significant progress has been made on the Oloibiri Museum and Research Centre, with mobilisation to site achieved in July 2025 and the 30-month project scheduled for delivery in 2027.
The Executive Secretary also announced new measures to curb abuse of the Nigerian Content Equipment Certificates (NCECs), stressing that all certificates will become non-transferable from 1 January 2026 to stop middlemen from infiltrating the tendering process.
Ogbe highlighted additional upcoming programmes, including the Research and Development Fair in the second quarter of 2026 and the NCDMB Technology Challenge in the first quarter of the year.
On human capital development, he disclosed that the Board has launched an Oil and Gas Field Readiness Training Programme targeting essential skills, attracting more than 11,000 applications.
Key national projects under NCDMB monitoring include Bonga North Tranche 1, Renaissance EPU Phase 3, Ubeta Gas Development, the AKK pipeline, OB3 Gas Pipeline, ELPS Phase 3, Odidi–Warri Expansion, and NLNG Train 7.
He added that the Board’s Back-to-Creek Initiative is advancing STEM education in rural Niger Delta communities through school renovations and modern learning facilities, with feasibility studies already completed.
Ogbe said Nigerian content levels in monitored projects have now climbed to 61 per cent, adding that a new PNC Townhall Session will debut on Wednesday to strengthen engagement with industry stakeholders.
He urged stakeholders to sustain collaboration, describing Nigerian content development as central to national industrialisation.
