News
NCDMB Seeks Collaboration with ISPON on Software in Oil & Gas Sector
Dr. Ernest Nwapa, executive secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has called for a continuous engagement between his agency and Institute of software practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON) for the application of local content policy in the software used by oil and Gas companies in the country.
He stated this while delivery a keynote speech at this year’s president dinner of ISPON held in Lagos over the weekend.
He said that local content is about things done in Nigeria and that his agency is today focusing on in-country value addition which includes promotion of capacity and use of local resources among others.
“In doing these we have been able to create robust local supply chain,” he said.
According to him,’ implementing local in any sector of the economy requires a strong political will to enforce which contributed to the success my agency has recorded so far’.
He cited a policy where Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) in oil and gas are not allowed to supply anything to any oil company without evidence of manufacturing something in the country. “This is innovative way of improving processes. In communications technology sector you can insist that certain percentage of software in use must be local,” he said.
Nwapa expressed the readiness of his agency to collaborate with ISPON the way it has done with power sector to plug into its capacity building in training engineers for structural and other electrical and mechanical design in that sector.
“A software engineer who wants to develop an application in the oil and gas sector have many Nigerians working in the sector that can explain to him what the operations are all about, which will guide him in that regard. We don’t have that big gap like before when Nigerians are not allowed in some operational areas in the oil and gas sector,” he added.
Earlier, Pius Okigbo Jr. president, ISPON, in his remark, said that local content by its very nature, is a deliberate policy focused on economic growth.
“At its core is the principle of human development and the need to develop and deepen human capabilities as well as build the requisites skills at all levels of value chain. From inception, the Nigerian Local Content policy has been and continues to be focused primarily on engineering and successfully so.”
He explained that within this space, exists a myriad of opportunities in software and related software services, the scope of which lies in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
EFCC
The African Development Bank Group last week approved an investment of €6.5 million in the Saviu II fund in order to support technology start-ups through their seed phase and first institutional fundraising, mainly in French-speaking Central and West Africa.
The Bank will invest €4.5 million as equity and €2 million as a first-loss hedging tranche on behalf of the European Commission, under the Boost Africa Programme.
This participation of the Bank Group will enable the Saviu II fund to give priority to companies with a strong technological or digital component.
Saviu II, the second investment vehicle of Saviu Partners, plans to invest between €500,000 and €3 million in about 20 technology or technology-oriented business-to-business start-ups in the seed phase or carrying out first institutional fundraising.
The Saviu II venture capital fund aims to make at least 60% of its commitments in the French-speaking countries of West and Central Africa: Côte d ‘Ivoire, Cameroon, Benin, Senegal, Togo, Burkina Faso and Mali.
The fund can also co-invest in promising technology companies in East Africa that have a strong team and business model, and whose strategy includes entering the market in French-speaking West African countries and establishing a strong presence there.
In addition, the fund will devote a dedicated envelope to pre-seed investments, focusing on minority equity investments, usually in co-investment with studios, incubators or other ecosystem partners.
Nigerian Government has signed a $1.3 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) via the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) to fund an alumina refinery, national geoscience mapping, and a strategic investment vehicle for mining growth.
Special Assistant to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Segun Tomori, said the refinery will process one million tonnes of bauxite yearly using a modern Bayer process, powered by an on-site gas-fired cogeneration plant.
Minister Dele Alake called it a transformative milestone boosting GDP, aligning with reforms that improve investment climate, regulations, and licensing to attract private capital. He directed agencies to fast-track permits.
The 20-year project at 95% utilization eyes 19 million tonnes total output, $1.2 billion annual GDP addition, $25 billion economic impact, and $8 billion forex earnings, per feasibility studies.
SMDF Executive Secretary Fatima Shinkafi termed it the agency’s biggest funding deal, supporting value-addition policy.
The partnership extends to geoscience mapping for mineral data, de-risking exploration, and a joint vehicle for mining assets.
Permanent Secretary Engr. Farouk Yabo praised the reforms. Shinkafi signed for government; AFC’s Franklin Edochie for the corporation, witnessed by AFC CEO Samaila Zubairu.
Tomori positioned it as Nigeria’s largest private mining investment and FDI magnet.
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