NCDMB opens Nigeria’s oil and gas market to Chinese manufacturers
NCDMB is courting Chinese equipment manufacturers to move beyond exporting products to Nigeria and start investing, manufacturing and transferring technology locally.
Nigeria is asking Chinese oil and gas equipment manufacturers to look beyond the size of its market and consider what they can build inside the country.
That was the central message from the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) as it engaged more than 100 Chinese Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in Chengdu, China, seeking to attract investment, manufacturing capacity and technology into Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
The engagement formed part of the Board’s participation in the 15th China Shale Oil and Gas Summit, held from September 20 to 23, 2026, at the Chengdu Century City International Conference Centre. With the summit focused on intelligent technologies and the development of the shale oil and gas industry, NCDMB used the platform to present Nigeria’s local content framework and opportunities for Chinese companies in equipment manufacturing, technology and oil and gas services.
Representing the NCDMB Executive Secretary, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, the Director, Project Certification and Authorisation Division (PCAD) and Senior Technical Adviser to the Executive Secretary, Engr. Austin Uzoka, delivered a keynote address titled, “Nigeria’s Local Content Journey and Opportunities for Chinese Collaboration in Oil and Gas Equipment Manufacturing.”
His message was straightforward: Nigeria wants to change the nature of its relationship with Chinese manufacturers.
Rather than continuing with a conventional buyer-seller arrangement in which Nigerian companies import equipment from China, NCDMB wants more Chinese companies to consider establishing manufacturing, assembly and service operations in Nigeria.
“We are looking beyond the traditional buyer-seller relationship. What can we build together?” Uzoka said, encouraging Chinese companies to see Nigeria as a destination for investment and manufacturing, as well as a gateway to opportunities across the wider African market.
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The proposition is closely linked to Nigeria’s local-content ambitions. Since the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act was enacted in 2010, the local-content agenda has increasingly moved beyond participation in oil and gas projects towards building the industrial capabilities needed to supply those projects.
Uzoka described that evolution as a broader industrial development agenda focused on manufacturing, technology ownership and positioning Nigerian businesses to compete in regional and global markets.
For Chinese manufacturers, NCDMB is presenting Nigeria as a place where they can develop those capabilities locally while still giving companies access to a wider market.
The Nigerian Oil and Gas Park Scheme (NOGaPS) is one of the platforms the Board is putting forward. NCDMB encouraged Chinese OEMs to explore the scheme as a base for manufacturing, assembly and service operations, with opportunities for technology transfer, technical arrangements and the integration of Nigerian companies into their supply chains.
The Board also pointed to the provisions of the NOGICD Act, saying oil and gas equipment manufacturing facilities established in Nigeria can access patronage from the industry, alongside opportunities extending into the Gulf of Guinea.
China’s existing strength in manufacturing, engineering, technology and energy infrastructure makes the country an important potential partner in that strategy.
“We want to explore how those capabilities can be connected with the opportunities that exist in Nigeria, for mutual benefits,” Uzoka said.
The pitch moved beyond presentations on the second day of the summit, when NCDMB organised a Business-to-Business (B2B) session involving more than 100 Chinese equipment manufacturers and Nigerian oil and gas stakeholders.
Representatives of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), led by Mr Sylvester Ovunwese, participated alongside representatives of Project 100, including Mrs Olateju Oyelakun of Encapsulate Nigeria Limited and Mr Namdi Akudulu of Wider Energy. Renaissance African Energy Company was represented by its General Manager, Nigerian Content Development, Engr. Olarenwaju Lanre Olawuyi, who made a presentation on behalf of the company and Oil Producing Trade Session (OPTS).
The discussions focused on local manufacturing, supply-chain integration, investment, technology development and market access, giving Nigerian companies an opportunity to present their capabilities while Chinese manufacturers considered possibilities for entering the Nigerian market through local production and technical partnerships.
The engagement generated interest among several participating Chinese OEMs, who expressed willingness to explore business relationships with Nigerian companies and opportunities within the country’s oil and gas manufacturing ecosystem.
In her closing remarks, the General Manager, Midstream, PCAD, Ms Lekoma Phimia, urged participants to build on the connections made in Chengdu and turn them into commercially viable and sustainable business relationships.
The Board’s participation also extended to the exhibition floor, where its booth attracted industry players, visitors and prospective investors seeking information about Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, local-content opportunities and the process of establishing business operations in the country.
The Chengdu engagement reflects a broader ambition for Nigeria’s local-content policy: to attract global expertise without remaining dependent on importing the products that expertise can produce.
For NCDMB, the objective is to move from participation to capability, from capability to manufacturing and, ultimately, from manufacturing to technology ownership and stronger regional competitiveness.
