11 September 2017, Sweetcrude, Lagos — Mr. Simbi Wabote, the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, has given the assurance that the board would launch the Nigeria Content Investment Fund with the Bank of Industry with a take-off grant of two hundred million dollars ($200 million) for a five-year period to support project finance, management, logistics and encourage capacity development for local companies in-country.
Mr. Wabote made the disclosure when he paid a working visit to the PCMN factory located in Shomolu, Lagos and urged Mr. Vassily Barberopoulos, the Chairman of the MANLOC Group to collaborate with the board in articulating a strategy to buoy the Federal Government to reduce duties for manufacturers.
He also pledge the active support of the board in conjunction with the energy industry, citing executive order 003 signed by the acting president which states that “if a product is made in Nigeria, it must be patronized and purchased by Nigerians” as that is one of the ways to grow the economy and provide jobs for the teeming youth population in Nigeria.
Mr. Wabote said he was impressed with the progress recorded by the PCMN and also advised the management to look into the packaging of their products as that can also make the product more attractive.
While speaking earlier, Mr. Barberopoulos urged the Executive Secretary to look into the cost of duties with the Ministry of Finance towards finding and implementing a favourable duty regime on imported raw materials.
While on an inspection tour of the facility, Mr. Mike Thompson the Vice Chairman/CEO of the organization walked invited guests through the day to day operations of the facility predominantly staffed by Nigerians who have been responsible for manufacturing world-class products with strict adherence to international best practices through cutting-edge solutions.
During the presentation, Mr. Toyin Afolabi, the Director in charge of Marketing took the guests through a labyrinth of challenges and gains recorded in the course of doing business in Nigeria while urging the Board to help aid local businesses.
Mr. Afolabi made drew a comparison between local cost versus the cost of imported products noting that this was a part of the major challenge local manufacturing businesses especially PCMN have to contend with and urged the Board to come to the rescue of local manufacturers in order to avoid irreparable damage to the sector.
In a departure from cost related issues associated with manufacturing, Mr. Thompson gave an insight regarding the organization’s strengths, its diversification, and projections.
With a fixed capacity to produce twenty-four million litres of paint annually, the organization has become the one-stop-shop for all oil and gas companies in Nigeria and within the West African sub-region that embark on “Asset Corrosion Integrity test” on their oil facilities.
Furthermore, in view of the “roll back malaria” initiative, the organization has developed a number of mosquito repellents products ranging from paints to sprays and liquid additives for clothes that can repel mosquitoes and these are all ISO certified products and safe for human use.
The Executive Secretary and his team, as well as high ranking officials from the IOCs were conducted around the state of the art facility in Lagos and Engr. Wabote could not help but express his gladness regarding the modern equipment, organization and strict adherence to quality delivery found at the factory.