13 January 2015, Lagos – Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL, operator of the NNPC/Chevron Joint Venture has reiterated the importance of partnership to the growth of businesses in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region.
The Chairman and Managing Director of CNL, Mr. Clay Neff, made the comment recently in Washington at the maiden Niger-Delta Development Forum, NDDF, hosted by the Niger Delta Partnership Initiatives, NDPI.
The partnership is a Chevron-supported foundation working to develop new solutions to economic and social challenges in the region.
A statement from the General Manager, Policy, Government & Public Affairs, CNL, Mr. Deji Haastrup, said the forum was attended by the private and public sectors, NGOs and government representatives from Nigeria and the Unites States of America.
He explained that a part of the Forum’s mandate is to explore collaborative efforts for creating long-term economic stability for the Niger Delta.
Neff spoke on the topic: “Partnering to Grow Business in the Niger Delta,” which was moderated by the Vice President of the Corporate Council on Africa, CCA, Ambassador Robert Perry.
Neff was quoted as stressing the importance of partnership between the public and private sectors for the growth of business in the Niger Delta, adding that such a partnership must be mutually beneficial and should entail extensive dialogue with all stakeholders.
He said, “I believe that public and private sector entities should seek mutually beneficial solutions, and at Chevron we are interested in all the solutions available for the economic and social development of the Niger Delta.
“Chevron has seen first-hand the importance of working with people closely and building solutions where they feel very much a part of the process. It never works to simply ram things through, nothing lasts that way.”
He commended NDPI and the Nigerian sister organisation Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta, PIND, for the quality of the projects they have executed so far and the passion of the team to the development of the Niger Delta area.
He described the PIND/NDPI seed grant of $50m followed by $40m made available for 2015 to 2019, as an investment in economic development in the Niger Delta.
The panelists included the President and Chief Executive Officer of Initiative for Global Development, IGD, Mr. Mima Nedelcovych; and Chief Executive Officer of Greenpark Petrochemical, Mr. Uwa Igiehon.
As part of effort to encourage young people to go into agriculture, the Executive Director, PIND, Mr. Sam Daibo, said the foundation has been making agriculture attractive to youths through enlightenment campaigns focusing on the many opportunities in the agriculture value chains.
“It’s not just about going to the farm and planting cassava. You can be the one who supplies the fingerlings for fisheries, or tractors and land clearing services. Agriculture isn’t just one thing. It’s an entire value chain with very real potential to see high income generation for young people,” Daibo added.
PIND, the statement said, was established in 2010 as a non-profit foundation in Nigeria, and serves the operational entity of NDPI. PIND main function is to help alleviate poverty and promote peace in the Niger Delta region by building dynamic, innovative programmes and multi-stakeholder partnerships.
These provide a broad stakeholder support for projects in four main focus areas of economic development, capacity building, peace building and analysis, and advocacy.
“NDPI on the other hand, has a broader function which covers developing new solutions to economic and social challenges in the Niger Delta through a partner-centric approach based on regional knowledge to understand the root causes of economic instability and forge community owned, market-driven results,” it explained.
*Press statement – Chevron
