Nigeria’s oil and gas regulator is pushing to deepen indigenous participation across the industry’s midstream and downstream segments, building on gains that have lifted local content from under five percent in 2010 to 61 percent today, even as the sector draws renewed investment interest.
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board says the shift reflects more than $20 billion in in-country investment tied to the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act, which took effect in 2010. Officials say the board is now widening its focus beyond upstream exploration and production toward gas processing, refining, petrochemicals and local manufacturing, viewing those segments as the next major drivers of industrialization and job creation. The board has set a target of 70 percent local content by 2027.
To support that push, the NCDMB has partnered with the Bank of Industry on a $100 million equity investment scheme aimed at easing access to capital for high-growth local energy service firms. The board has also introduced a mandatory compliance certificate, effective this year, confirming payment of a statutory one percent levy on petroleum sector contracts, a measure officials say is meant to tighten oversight and curb fraudulent local-content claims. A joint industry capacity audit of in-country manufacturers and service providers was slated to begin in the third quarter of 2026.
Officials point to major ongoing projects, including the NLNG Train 7 expansion, the NNPC-led AKK gas pipeline and TotalEnergies’ Ubeta gas development, as evidence of the framework’s traction, alongside newer developments such as Shell’s HI Field and the Bonga North deepwater project. The board has also flagged persistent technical skill gaps still filled by expatriate workers, prompting a drive to train more than 10,000 Nigerians, and is promoting a scheme to encourage local production of equipment still largely imported.
The NCDMB will showcase its framework as an official local content partner at African Energy Week in Cape Town in October, where officials plan to present Nigeria’s model as a reference point for other African oil-producing nations.
