Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, is no longer just a regulator within the oil and gas sector, but a strategic driver of sustainable development across Africa’s resource-based industries, Mr. Omomehin Ajimijaye Silas, General Manager, Monitoring and Evaluation, has said.
Speaking at a panel session titled “Harnessing Local Resources for Sustainable Development” at the just concluded 4th African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit, AFNIS 2025, Silas said NCDMB is leveraging its mandate under the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development, NOGICD Act of 2010 to transform not only Nigeria but the continent.
According to him, NCDMB’s work now cuts across mining, ICT, and agriculture through deliberate interventions that focus on job creation, capacity building, and industrialization.
“We don’t just catalyze the oil and gas sector, we’re building sustainable value across Africa,” Silas declared.
He cited key platforms such as, “PETAN, which now has over 100 indigenous oilfield technology companies. OGTAN, with more than 400 Nigerian-owned training institutions, and; the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum, helping to deepen engagement across the value chain.
Silas noted that the Board’s achievements include the Community Content Guideline, which predates the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, and is now reinforced by the Nigeria First Policy, ensuring Nigerians benefit first from projects executed in the country.
“Our partnerships with communities, service companies, E&P firms, and regional governments are exporting Nigerian skills and standards to other African countries via the African Local Content Roundtable,” he said.
With this expanded footprint, NCDMB is emerging as a blueprint for how African nations can domesticate value, reduce capital flight, and ensure that resource wealth translates into real economic growth and prosperity.
