The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has launched a $100 million Equity Investment Scheme as part of a renewed push to deepen indigenous participation in the oil and gas industry, with local content levels rising to 61 per cent by the third quarter of 2025.
The Executive Secretary of the Board, Engr Felix Omatsola Ogbe, announced the new programme on the opening day of the 14th Practical Nigerian Content (PNC) Forum, which concluded on Thursday.
The event drew an influential audience, including three ministers of state, federal lawmakers, senior industry figures, and representatives of the Bayelsa State Government.
Ogbe said the Equity Investment Scheme would “provide equity financing to high-growth indigenous energy service companies, while diversifying the income base of the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF).” A memorandum of understanding to manage the new fund was signed during the forum between Ogbe and the Managing Director of the Bank of Industry (BOI), Dr. Olasupo Olusi.
Fresh Interventions and New Targets
The Executive Secretary confirmed that the Board had achieved 61 per cent Nigerian Content from projects under its monitoring as at Q3 2025, reflecting what he described as sustained industry compliance and improved indigenous capacity.
He also announced that a new batch of Project 100 Companies would be onboarded in 2026, following the successful implementation of interventions for the first cohort, which is due to exit in April 2026. Initiated in 2019, the Project 100 scheme supports 100 indigenous oil and gas companies with capacity-building initiatives and access to market opportunities.
Ogbe further disclosed that the Board would launch the NCDMB Technology Challenge in the first quarter of 2026, followed by a Research and Development Fair in the second quarter. A review of the Board’s seven operational guidelines is also planned for early 2026.
He revealed that the framework for issuing the NCDF Compliance Certificate, required to confirm companies’ adherence to the statutory one per cent remittance to the Fund, had been concluded. The certificate will become mandatory for accessing key permits from 1 January 2026.
Recent Achievements and Ongoing Projects
The NCDMB, Ogbe noted, had expanded access to the Community Contractors Scheme, with over 94 disbursements recorded in 2025. The Nigerian Content Academy has also commenced operations as a full-fledged division, with seven lecture series convened since its upgrade.
On human capacity development, the Board has rolled out its Oil and Gas Field Readiness Training Programme to prepare Nigerians in 10 high-demand technical skills, ahead of a surge in major projects and over 20 Field Development Plans recently approved by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
Ogbe also confirmed progress on the multibillion-naira Oloibiri Museum and Research Centre (OMRC) in Bayelsa State, following the award of the construction contract to Julius Berger Plc in December 2024 and site mobilisation in July 2025. The project, jointly funded by the PTDF, NCDMB, Renaissance Africa Energy, and the Bayelsa State Government, is due for completion in 30 months.
Lawmakers, Ministers Weigh In
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Content, Senator Joel Thomas, decried the persistent breaches of the NOGICD Act, particularly the non-remittance of the mandatory one per cent NCDF levy by some indigenous firms.
In the House of Representatives, Hon Boma Goodhead commended the Board for sustaining the PNC Forum and steering the industry’s local content agenda.
Delivering his ministerial address, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, said the forum’s theme: Securing Investments, Strengthening Local Content, and Scaling Energy Production, reflected the government’s national priorities. He maintained the importance of stable policies, transparent processes, and incentives to attract long-term investment.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, said the industry had emerged from a decade of stagnation following the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in 2021 and President Bola Tinubu’s policy directives issued in 2024. He disclosed that the number of oil rigs had risen from 14 to over 60, with 40 currently active, adding: “Our investment climate is now globally competitive.”
Lokpobiri also confirmed that Nigeria had fulfilled all obligations to the African Energy Bank, whose corporate headquarters in Abuja is ready for full operations.
The Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, said Nigeria was on the brink of a “profound energy transition, from import dependence to production strength, and from resource extraction to value creation.”
BOI, Presidency Highlight Opportunities
In his goodwill message, BOI chief Dr Olusi hailed the new partnership with the NCDMB, saying the $100 million equity fund would “deploy equity and quasi-equity capital to support high-potential Nigerian companies.” The Fund has a single-obligor limit of $5 million.
Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Mrs Olu A Verheijen, commended the Board for sustaining the forum, stressing that Nigeria’s growing indigenous capability, evident in modular refining, fabrication yards, and marine vessel ownership, showed what was possible when policy and ambition aligned.
READ ALSO: Local Content Key to Africa’s Energy Future, Says NCDMB Chief