NCDMB, NCI to host Nigerian content conference

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board and NCI Nigeria have concluded plans to host the Practical Nigerian Content Conference in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

The event, which was originally scheduled for October, was postponed after floods ravaged several communities in Bayelsa State and rendered the East West Road leading to Yenagoa impassable.

Confirming the new date of the conference on Wednesday in Yenagoa, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr. Ernest Nwapa, said in a statement that the challenges that informed the postponement had been overcome significantly, with the road now accessible and the flood receding from most parts of the state.

He noted that the conference, holding 30 months after the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act was signed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan, would provide an opportunity to discuss issues associated with the implementation and imbue participants with the knowledge needed to comply with the provisions of the Act.

According to him, the conference, which was first held last year in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, is being organised this year by CWC in partnership with NCDMB and the Bayelsa State Government as a testament to the model of genuine partnerships being promoted by the Board, and is scheduled for November 20- 21, 2012.

Nwapa indicated the workshop, which has as its theme, Discover the Opportunities — Hear the Success Stories — See it in Action, will afford delegates the opportunity of hearing practical success stories from industry stakeholders on how the implementation of the Act has retained over $4bn out of the $20bn annual industry spend, stimulated over $2bn investment in new and upgrade of facilities and created 30,000 direct and indirect jobs in 30 months of implementation.

The workshop will also provide an opportunity for participants to learn about new initiatives being promoted by the board such as indigenous ownership and operatorship of marine assets and the Equipment Components Manufacturing Initiative, which is already stimulating industrialisation in Nigeria and creating thousands of jobs in linkage industries.

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NCDMB, NCI to host Nigerian content conference