Mkpoikana Udoma
Yenagoa — The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Engr Simbi Wabote, has charged stakeholders to join hands in ensuring that the oil and gas sector makes a double digit contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, as obtainable in other major oil producing countries.
The NCDMB boss regretted that Norway has doubled its GDP in the last two years, with oil and gas making 20 percent of their GDP, while Nigeria’s oil and gas contribution to her GDP declined from 7.4 in 2021 to 5.6 percent in 2022.
Wabote disclosed these in his address at the Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair, NOGOF, 2023 organised by the Board in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, with the theme, “The Oil and Gas Industry: Catalyst and Fuel for the Industralisation of Nigeria”.
He urged investors to key into the five categories of opportunities in the oil and gas sector, namely policy, people, funds, infrastructure and situational driven opportunities.
According to him, policy-driven opportunities such as government policies and regulations like the PIA, NOGICD Act, AfCFTA, the decade of gas policy, are all embedded with vast opportunities which any serious investors should take.
“According to the data from NBS, the oil and gas sector contributed 5.6percent in 2022 and 7.4 percent in 2021 to Nigeria’s GDP. The oil sector steadily dropped behind agriculture, telecommunications, trade, ICT in terms of sectors that contributed most to Nigeria’s GDP.
“These are signs of a sector that is struggling, and we must all join hands to stop the decline so that we can turn oil and gas contribution to GDP to double digits like in other major oil producing nations, such as Norway.
“Norway has doubled its GDP in the last two years from $171billion to $367billion with the oil and gas sector contributing about 20 percent, followed by their hydro power.
“It’s my view that the oil and gas sector can serve as a catalyst and enable us to achieve our desired double digits GDP. One way the double digits GDP growth can be achieved is by harnessing the arrays of opportunities that exists in various categories enabled by the oil and gas industry,” he stated.
The NCDMB boss also disclosed that NOGOF 2023 was imperative, as the objectives of the Fair include showcasing opportunities in the upstream, downstream and mindstram sector of the petroleum industry.
Other objectives of NOGOF 2023, according to him, are “To provide opportunities for foreign and local investors to build synergy.
“Provide investors an opportunities to showcase capabilities; Provide stakeholders with information on upcoming projects to enable Nigerian companies, manufacturers table their business development strategies, among others.”
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