Community contractors in the oil and gas industry will only pay five percent interest rate when they access the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCI Fund), the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, has said.
Wabote stated this at the interactive session organized by the board recently for civil society organisations (CSOs) in Abuja.
He noted that such contractors execute small scale projects and would not pay the same interest rate like conventional oil and gas service companies.
The concession for community contractors, he said, is in line with the board’s community content guideline and provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act.
The intent is to promote the participation of genuine community contractors in oil and gas projects and integration of communities in the industry value chain as part of the strategy to grow the local economy and promote peace and tranquility in host communities.
The executive secretary also promised that disbursement of the content fund to oil and gas companies will start this year.
The loan will be disbursed directly to qualifying companies by the Bank of Industry (BOI) and repaid within five years at eight percent interest rate.
The NCI Fund, Wabote explained, will cater for manufacturing, project financing and equipment purchase.
He added that a key consideration for granting loans for a project is the impact it will make on Nigerians and the Nigerian economy.
On the board’s plan to establish a Nigerian Content Bank, Wabote said the financial institution will ultimately manage the utilization of the fund.
According to him, “within the next four years, we will have established the bank and a good governance process. We will have key stakeholders, including the civil society as part of the Advisory Board to guard against misapplication.”
Acknowledging the positive roles played by civil society organizations in the society, the NCDMB helmsman said the board will work with Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) to develop a sustainable model that will guide the participation of CSOs in Nigerian Content implementation.
In his goodwill message, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, the director of communications at NEITI, described the NCDMB’s engagement with civil society organizations as a confirmation of its disposition to openness, integrity and corporate governance.
He noted that CSOs could assist the board to push the boundaries of implementation and carry out advocacy campaigns.
Orji described the Board’s plan to establish the Nigerian Content Bank as a novel idea that should be realized.
He further advised the board to educate Nigerians sufficiently on the operations of the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF), sanction companies that fail to remit one percent value of their contracts to the NCDF, and give incentives to those that comply.
Several civil society groups, such as Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Democratic Action Group, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), and Centre for Policy participated in the event.
