The Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote; FNSE, FIPS, has at the 4th edition of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF)2023 reveals Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board’s (NCDMB) commitment to drive the country’s GDP double digits rate growth.
The Executive Secretary, at the biennial event themed NOGOF is “Oil & Gas Industry – Catalyst and Fuel for the Industrialization of Nigeria” says
“the growth of the nation’s GDP has been marginal, but the reality is that we need to drive the growth rate to double digits for us to achieve the level of economic advancement and development that we desire”.
Addressing the biennial event in a welcome address, Engr. Simbi said,
“I am excited to be here with you physically again in our own conference centre especially as the COVID-19 pandemic prevented us from congregating at the last edition which was held virtually.
This theme reflects the pivotal role that the oil and gas industry is expected to play in driving the economic growth and development of Nigeria.
Of late, this role expected of the oil and gas industry has been dwindling due to missed opportunities as a result of policy inconsistencies, deferred decisions, and investments apathy.
Just to set the context, I would like to draw your attention to the nation’s GDP growth rate between the years 2021 to 2022 as released by the National Bureau for Statistics (NBS).
Over this period, the growth of the nation’s GDP has been marginal, but the reality is that we need to drive the growth rate to double digits for us to achieve the level of economic advancement and development that we desire”.
The NBS report noted that the total annual contribution of oil to aggregate GDP in 2022 was 5.67% compared to 7.24% in 2021.
The oil sector has steadily dropped behind Agriculture, Trade, Telecommunications/ICT, and Real Estate in terms of sectors that contributed the most to Nigeria’s GDP.
These are signs of a dying sector, and we must all join hands to stop the decline so that we can return oil and gas contribution to GDP to double digits levels similar to other major oil producing countries.
For instance, Norway has doubled its GDP in the last 2 years from $171.2 Billion to $367 Billion with the oil and gas sector contributing about 20% followed by their hydropower.
Although Norway is in a different clime from Nigeria, we share some similarities when we look at the huge deposits of natural resources coupled with a skilled labour force and the adoption of new technology that made Norway a prosperous country during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
The Executive Secretary added
“It is my belief that the oil and gas sector can serve as the catalyst that will enable us to achieve the desired double-digit GDP growth rate if we are bold and disruptive in our strategy.
One probable means through which double-digit GDP growth can be achieved is by harnessing the array of opportunities that exists in various categories enabled by the oil and gas industry”.
In the aspect of creating opportunities, the NOGICD Act sets the minimum targets in 278 services across oil and gas value chain in the Schedule.
I have always referred to the Schedule of the NOGICD Act as a compendium of opportunities waiting for any serious investor to tap into. The schedule lists out the various activities in the oil and gas industry and sets out the desired level of Nigerian content for which any discerning investor can position himself or herself for patronage, he added.
Beyond the core oil and gas activities related to Exploration and Production, the ES says there are several related activities enable by our industry such as security, insurance, medicals, ICT, legal services, aviation, catering, and several others.
Also says NOGOF has therefore been designed with the following objectives in mind:
Showcase opportunities in the Upstream, Midstream and Downstream sectors of the Petroleum Industry
Provide opportunity for foreign and local investors to build synergies in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
Provide Nigerian companies and prospective investors an opportunity to showcase their capabilities.
Provide stakeholders with information on upcoming projects to enable Nigerian companies/manufacturers tailor their business development strategies.
Identify high impact activities with potential for in-country value addition with a 5-year outlook to deepen the practice of Nigerian Content.
In view of these objectives, let me share five (5) broad categories of opportunities which I would like to highlight in this welcome address as we prepare to go into the various opportunity and technical sessions today and tomorrow.
These categories are:
Policy Driven Opportunities
People Driven Opportunities
Fund Driven Opportunities
Infrastructure Driven Opportunities and
Situational Opportunities.