The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) on Friday said it had commenced a 10-year development plan aimed at creating 300,000 jobs in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

Mr Simbi Wabote, Executive Secretary of NCDMB, said this during a capacity building workshop for Energy and Business Correspondents on Friday in Yenagoa.

He said that the board commenced the plan in 2017, adding that its plan was to retain 70 per cent of the $20 billion annually spent in the sector.

Represented by Mr Isaac Yalah, NCDMB Director of Finance and Personnel Management, Wabote added that only five per cent of the $20 billion spent annually was retained prior to the establishment of the board in 2010.

He said that the development plan was borne out of the need to increase local participation in the oil and gas industry, boost indigenous businesses as well as improve the nation’s economy.

The Executive Secretary explained that a critical aspect of the 10-year development plan was the $200 million of the Nigerian Content Investment Fund (NCIF), which was being managed by Bank of Industry (BoI) to meet the funding needs of indigenous players in the oil and gas industry.

Shedding more lights on the fund, the General Manager, NCIF, Mr Obinna Ofili, said that only 11 firms had accessed the fund since it was established.

He said that the fund was available for contributors to Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) and community contractors in oil and gas bearing communities.

According to him, the loan types are manufacturing, asset acquisition, contract finance, community contractor finance scheme and loan refinancing.

Ofili added that the facility ranged from $10 million to $20 million for community contractor financed scheme.

He disclosed that the tenor of all the loans was five years and that applicants could apply through the BOI/NCIF portal while loans could be accessed after 45 working days of meeting the fund criteria.

According to him, the fund will provide single digit interest loan of between five and eight per cent and enhance the competitiveness of indigenous companies in the oil and gas industry.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop focused mainly on how NCIF could increase access to the NCDF.

NAN reports that Prof. Walter Ihejirika of University of Port Harcourt, spoke on Strategies and Techniques for Effective Coverage of the Energy Sector in Nigeria: the NCIF Dimension while Prof. Diri Tellanyo of Federal University, Otuoke delivered a lecture on Current Trends and New Themes in Energy and Business Reporting. (NAN)

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