The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has called for a new generation of African local content frameworks capable of transforming the continent’s vast oil and gas resources into sustainable industrial capacity, stronger indigenous businesses and globally competitive value chains.
The call was made at the Africa Local Content Programme of Africa Oil Week 2026 (AOW 2026) in Accra, Ghana, where the NCDMB joined African governments, regulators, investors, industry leaders and service providers to examine strategies for strengthening local participation across the continent’s upstream oil and gas industry.
The programme, themed “Building African Capacity, Competitiveness and Collaboration Across the Upstream Value Chain,” was organised in partnership with the NCDMB, the African Union (AU) and Ghana’s Petroleum Commission.
Delivering the opening remarks on behalf of NCDMB Executive Secretary, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, the Board’s Director of Corporate Services, Dr. Abdulmalik Halilu, challenged African oil-producing countries to look beyond ownership of natural resources and focus on building the industrial systems, businesses, skills, technologies and supply chains required to capture greater value from them.
Speaking on the theme, “From Resource Ownership to Industrial Power,” Halilu said Africa’s local content agenda must evolve into a strategic instrument for continental industrialisation.
“Local content frameworks must promote the development and utilization of African cross-border capacities for the industrialization of Africa,” he said.
Local content must deliver more than jobs
The NCDMB stressed that the real value of local content lies beyond employment quotas or the participation of indigenous companies in individual projects.
According to the Board, a stronger African local content value proposition should encompass **research and technology development, local employment, strategic partnerships, ownership and control of assets, supply-chain optimisation, sustainable operations, increased production and utilisation of locally made goods, and contributions to gross domestic product (GDP).**
The approach, NCDMB argued, would enable African countries to build deeper industrial capabilities while positioning indigenous enterprises to compete within and beyond their domestic markets.
The Board’s intervention comes as African oil and gas producers continue to seek increased investment while facing the twin challenge of maximising hydrocarbon resources and developing the domestic industrial capacity needed to retain a greater share of industry value.
NCDMB puts financing, technology and skills at centre of African energy growth
NCDMB officials participated in a series of strategic sessions examining some of the most critical barriers to local content development across Africa.
Mr. Erefagha Turner, Assistant Manager, Planning, Research and Statistics, contributed to discussions on “Unlocking Capital for African Content Growth,” where he highlighted the importance of creating sustainable financing pathways for indigenous African businesses.
He cited Nigeria’s Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCI Fund) as a model that has supported the growth and capacity development of oil and gas service companies, demonstrating how targeted financing mechanisms can help indigenous businesses expand their capabilities.
The Board also placed significant emphasis on human capital.
Engr. Dokubo Obongo, Manager, Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Building, participated in the session on “Investing in Talent: Building Africa’s Energy Workforce,” stressing that skills development and sustained investment in human capital are fundamental to creating an energy workforce capable of competing globally.
Technology and policy harmonisation also featured prominently.
Mr. Ajimijaye Omomehin, Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, NCDMB, participated in discussions on “Harmonising and Standardising Technology and Policy: Driving Change through the Brazzaville Accord,” as well as a session on “Building Regional Oil & Gas Industrial Hubs.”
The discussions examined how coordinated policies, technology standards and regional industrial hubs could help African countries overcome fragmented markets and unlock greater economies of scale.
NCDMB highlights investment opportunities across Africa
The Board also played a prominent role in discussions around attracting investment into Africa’s upstream sector.
Dr. Obinna Ezeobi, General Manager, Corporate Communications Division, NCDMB, moderated the session titled “Market Entry Insights: Unlocking Africa’s Most Compelling Upstream Opportunities.”
The session brought together industry stakeholders to examine the conditions required to unlock greater investment in Africa’s upstream oil and gas sector.
Participants identified **local content, regulatory stability, policy predictability and lower operating costs** as critical factors in attracting international capital.
They also emphasised the importance of creating an environment in which international capital, technology and expertise can work alongside increasingly capable African indigenous companies.
From national local content to continental collaboration
A recurring message throughout the Africa Local Content Programme was that Africa’s local content ambitions cannot be achieved through isolated national policies alone.
Greater regional cooperation, cross-border capacity utilisation, technology transfer, access to finance and harmonised regulatory frameworks were identified as essential to building an integrated African energy industry.
For the NCDMB, this represents an opportunity to expand the local content philosophy beyond national boundaries and develop a more interconnected African industrial ecosystem.
The Board’s participation in Africa Oil Week 2026 therefore reflects a broader push to position local content as a driver of industrialisation, investment, job creation, technology development and economic diversification, rather than simply a compliance requirement within oil and gas projects.
As African producers navigate changing energy markets and intensifying competition for investment capital, the discussions in Accra underscored a central challenge: Africa’s resource wealth must increasingly translate into African industrial power.
The NCDMB’s contribution reinforced the case for a more collaborative continental approach in which local content, capital, technology, skills and regional markets work together to build a more competitive and sustainable African energy industry.
