• Nigeria launches a $100 million fund to boost oil-sector local firms

• NCDMB targets 70% local content by 2027 and tightens compliance rules

• Mandatory NCDF payment certificate starts 2026 to improve transparency

Nigeria’s oil and gas local content regulator has launched a 100 million dollar fund to support local service companies and reaffirmed its target of achieving 70 percent local content compliance by 2027.

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) unveiled the fund on Dec. 2, part of a national strategy to expand the role of Nigerian firms in an industry still dominated by foreign service providers.

Created in partnership with the Bank of Industry, the fund will provide equity financing to high-potential local companies. It aims to ease access to capital and strengthen their position in the oil and gas value chain.

The initiative aligns with a ten-year strategic roadmap adopted in 2017, which focuses on building national skills and limiting the use of foreign expertise when local alternatives exist. The board said it will intensify oversight of oil and gas projects to verify compliance with local content requirements and support continuous capacity building among Nigerian firms.

The NCDMB also stressed the importance of improving the credibility and transparency of its oversight system. It wants compliance to be based on verifiable evidence rather than declarations.

As part of these governance reforms, the NCDMB will introduce a mandatory certificate on Jan. 1, 2026, confirming a company’s payment of the required 1 percent contribution to the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF), a statutory levy on petroleum sector contracts. The certificate will become compulsory for obtaining any permit or authorization in the oil sector. The measure is intended to improve traceability of local contributions, curb false claims, and enhance transparency between operators and regulators.

The strategy also has wider institutional backing. Gbenga Komolafe, head of the upstream petroleum regulator (NUPRC), emphasized last year the need to develop the country’s human capital to support stronger economic growth and reduce dependence on foreign contractors. Recent gains underscore this trend, with local content rising from 56 percent to 61 percent in one year, helped by projects such as NLNG’s seventh liquefaction train, the AKK gas pipeline and the Ubeta gas field development.

Olivier de Souza