Nigeria’s oil and gas industry is sharpening its focus on building homegrown expertise in high-demand technical areas as the country seeks to secure jobs, boost production, and anchor its future in local content.

At the ongoing Africa Energy Week (AEW) in Cape Town, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe outlined priority skill areas that will drive capacity-building efforts, including underwater welding, subsea engineering, geosciences, project management, deepwater drilling and production, instrumentation and controls, as well as digitalisation fields like Artificial Intelligence. 

Training will also extend to specialised roles such as helicopter pilots, delivered through a mix of classroom and practical modules.

Also Read: NCDMB to train 3,700 youths in digital skills

Speaking on the theme “From Policy to Prosperity: Scaling Local Content for Africa’s Energy Future,” Ogbe, represented by NCDMB’s Director of Corporate Services, Dr Abdulmalik Halilu, stressed that “no policy succeeds without people.” He said infrastructure gaps and financing challenges should not slow down local content implementation but instead encourage deeper collaboration among governments, operators, service firms, and host communities.

He urged African nations to harmonise local content policies, create regional supply chains, and leverage institutions such as the planned African Energy Bank to strengthen the continent’s position in the global energy market.

Nigeria’s local content scorecard, Ogbe noted, has grown from just 5 percent in 2010 to 57 percent today, following the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act. The goal, he said, is to make Nigeria the preferred investment hub for exploration and production while creating jobs, stimulating new industries along the value chain, and ensuring sustainable operations.

Local content implementation, he explained, rests on six pillars: regulatory framework, gap analysis, capacity building, incentives and funding research and development, and access to markets. Interventions include requiring companies to obtain Nigerian Content Equipment Certificates, enforcing indigenous ownership for marine vessels, and mandating project-based training commitments.

“These efforts have produced tangible results,” Ogbe said. “Nigeria now hosts a world-class fabrication and integration yard for offshore platforms and FPSOs, produces high-voltage cables and fibre optics for LNG trains locally, and has developed strong design engineering capacity for onshore, offshore, and gas projects.”

He also pointed to recent Executive Orders issued by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which offer tax incentives and shorter contract approval cycles, reforms already unlocking projects such as the UBETA Gas Development and Bonga North.

With international oil companies divesting assets, Ogbe highlighted that local firms like Renaissance Africa Energy, Seplat, and Oando are stepping up, making the need for a skilled Nigerian workforce even more urgent if the country is to achieve its target of three million barrels per day by 2030.

He reaffirmed NCDMB’s commitment to partner with other African oil producers to ensure the continent’s energy sector is “owned, operated, and sustained by Africans.”

The Africa Energy Week, organised by the African Energy Chamber, continues in Cape Town with policymakers, operators, service companies, and investors in attendance.

Meiza Nigeria