The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote has declared that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and local content are not mutually exclusive, reports ITREALMS.
According to him, this implies that a country must be allowed to protect its areas of comparative advantage so that it could be utilized to trade for what it lacks.
“Discouraging local content laws and practice in the name of free trade is like fostering one-way trading which is not sustainable,” he declared.
Nigeria, he pointed out at the event chaired by the founding chief executive officer, Proton Energy Limited, Mr. Oti Ikomi, has continued to lead the way in the practice of local content in the oil and gas industry.
“We have ongoing collaboration with our brothers and sisters in Angola, Ghana, Siera Leone, Senegal, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Niger Republic, Uganda, and many others as we match forward and compare notes in our local content journeys,” he said.
These collaborations, Wabote said, have fostered integration of thoughts and actions thereby further enhancing the realization of the objectives of AFCFTA.
Next on the evolution list, he said, is energy transition which refers to the global energy sector’s shift from fossil-based systems of energy production and consumption including oil, natural gas and coal; to renewable energy sources like wind and solar, as well as lithium-ion batteries.
In addition, he said, energy transitioning is not a recent phenomenon as it has been occurring for centuries. “The usual trigger for this is the need to utilize energy that is efficient, effective, and economic,” he said.
The General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Nigerian LNG Limited, Mrs Eyono Fatayi-Williams and Consul General, Ghana Consulate-General, Ms Samata Gifty Bukari were discussants at the occasion.
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