Business

NCDMB Recommits To Support On Local Capacities

Published

2 months ago

May 17, 2024

The Executive Secretary (ES), Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Eng. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, has reassured oil and gas stakeholders that service companies and other manufacturers that have established capacities in the country will continue to enjoy patronage through the award of contracts from operating companies in the sector.
He made the commitment, Friday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State when he led officials of the Board and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) to visit companies that deliver pipe coating and related services.
A statement from the Directorate of Corporate Communications of the Board noted that the team visited Brightwaters Energy Limited, formerly known as Willbros Nigeria Ltd, Solewant Nigeria Limited and Pipe Coaters Nigeria, managed by Tenaris Nigeria Ltd.
The statement added that the Board’s team was taken round the company’s facilities and shown the various equipment of PCNL in readiness for the award of new contracts.
Ogbe said the visits were to assess the companies’ facilities and determine how the Board can galvanise the industry to patronise them.
He underscored the importance of getting first-hand information on in-country capabilities before making key decisions on oil and gas projects, insisting that operating companies must support and patronise local oil and gas service companies in compliance with the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act.
The NCDMB helmsman emphasised that activities in the Nigerian oil and gas industry must be used to create employment opportunities for the nation’s teeming youths and help to resuscitate the economy in line with the aspirations of President Bola Tinubu.
In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of Brightwaters Energy Limited, Mr. Scott Gregory, thanked the Executive Secretary for leading the visit, while highlighting that his firm carried out Nigeria’s first pipe coating in 1962.
Gregory recalled that the facility had 3,000 employees some years back, executing various spheres of oil and gas projects.
He conveyed the management’s aspiration to return the firm to those high-performance levels and sought the Board’s support to win oil and gas projects that would resuscitate the sprawling facility.
“We feel that we can be a positive contributor to Nigeria through the capacities that we have. We want to bring real, true value to the table”, he said.
The BrightWaters CEO admitted that the coating facility had suffered downtime, but assured that the plant would be up and running within 60 days of the award of a new contract.
In his remarks, Chairman of Tenaris Nigeria, Dr. Ernest Nwapa, welcomed the NCDMB’s team to PCNL’s facilities.
He commended the efforts made by the agency to push local content in the industry, attributing it to the good culture that had been established at the Board over the years.
Nwapa, who was the pioneer Executive Secretary of NCDMB, expressed delight that some of the oil and gas projects that had been pending for nearly ten years were now being developed and expressed hope that existing local capacities would be maximised in the execution of those projects.
He pledged the commitment of the company to meet the expectations of clients as well as allow them to participate in the supervision of the work in their factory.
The PCNL facility covers an area of 160,000 m2 in the Onne Free Trade Zone.
Those in the entourage of the NCDMB boss to the facility were, the Director, Projects Certification and Authorisation Division (PCAD), Engr. Abayomi Bamidele; General Manager, PCAD, Engr. Maurice Iwhiwhu; Special Technical Assistant (STA) to the Executive Secretary, Engr. Mofe Megbele; Deputy Manager, Corporate Communications, Mr. Obinna Ezeobi; and other staff members of the Board.
The SPDC team was led by the General Manager, Nigerian Content Development, Mr. Lanre Olawuyi.

Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa

Business

FG Set To Disburse N150bn MSMEs, Manufacturing Loans

Published

1 day ago

July 3, 2024

The Tide

The Federal Government is set to commence the disbursement of N150 billion soft loans to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and manufacturers by the end of July.

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, disclosed this in a statement through her official X handle

Uzoka-Anite said 60 percent of the proposed one million beneficiaries of the Presidential Conditional Grant had received a financial grant of N50,000 without repayment obligations in the 774 Local Government Areas of the country.

She said, “To all applicants of the Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme who are yet to be paid, thank you for your continued patience. The disbursement process is still ongoing, and we have allocated about 60 percent of the 1 million grants.

“We are also at the final stages of vetting for the MSMEs and Manufacturing loans. Applications remain open, and disbursement will begin by July ending”.

Recall that in December 2023, the Federal Government unveiled the Presidential Palliative Loan Programme and the Presidential Conditional Grant Programme as part of the Presidential Palliatives Programme aimed at supporting businesses to navigate the economic crunch caused by removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the foreign exchange market which has led to the depreciation of the naira.

Both initiatives require beneficiaries to meet certain conditions precedent to approval and drawdown.

Under the loan scheme, manufacturers can access up to N1 billion, at a single-digit interest rate of nine per cent per annum, for working capital with a repayment period of one to five years for the purchase of machinery and equipment.

The benefiting manufacturers are those that have been assessed by the accredited banks and have met all requirements for disbursement.

The fund dedicates N75 billion to MSMEs and another N75 billion to the manufacturing sector to help businesses in Nigeria navigate the harsh economic realities.

Business

Industrialists Commend FG For Empowering SMEs

Published

1 day ago

July 3, 2024

The Tide

Nigerian Association of Small-Scale Industrialists (NASSI) has commended the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Doris Nkiruka Uzoka-Anite, and President Bola Tinubu for their Renew Hope Agenda initiatives tagged “Presidential Grant and House-to-House Grant programmes”.

In a statement issued by the Chairman of the forum, Chief Dakta Solomon Daniel Vongfa, NASSI lauded these programmes for providing much-needed support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Nigeria, including a significant number of NASSI members.

Chief Vongfa added that NASSI looks forward to collaborating with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to ensure the successful implementation of these programmes and maximize their positive impact on NASSI members and SMEs nationwide.

According to the statement, the National Treasurer of NASSI, Dr. Abubakar Bala Tanko, highlighted the positive impact these grants will have on the growth of SMEs.

“The Presidential Grant and House-to-House Grant will empower SMEs to grow their businesses, create jobs, and contribute more significantly to the national economy.

“We are particularly grateful for the recognition of the crucial role SMEs play in Nigeria’s development”, Dr. Tanko stated.

The National Treasurer said SMEs are the lifewire of the economy, adding that empowering them would equip them to expand their businesses and also solve other societal problems.

He called for more efforts by the stakeholders of Nigerian economy towards empowering SMEs and also creating enabling environment for businesses to strive in the country.

Lilian Peters

Business

Wema Bank Charges Stakeholders On Digital Empowerment

Published

1 day ago

July 3, 2024

The Tide

Wema Bank has charged stakeholders to prioritise digital empowerment for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as a measure for championing a sustainable MSME ecosystem in Nigeria.

The pioneer of Africa’s first fully digital bank gave the charge at the International MSMEs Day and MSME Awards Night 2024, a two-fold event organised by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Office of the Vice President in commemoration of the Day

The event, which was held in Abuja, not only acknowledged the successes in the Nigerian MSME Sector, but also targets developing sustainable solutions for the continuous growth and development of the sector, to ultimately boost the Nigerian economy.

The programme, themed “Call to Action: Provision of Sustainable Single-Digit Loans for MSME”, gathered top reputable institutions and entities to brainstorm and proffer sustainable financial solutions in providing affordable loans and funding for MSMEs, in addition to ensuring that these financial solutions are easily accessible and available to MSMEs.

The Bank’s Executive Director of Retail and Digital Business, Tunde Mabawonku, who represented Wema Bank’s MD/CEO, Moruf Oseni, further emphasised the pressing need to prioritise technology and digital empowerment to complement, “capacity development, financial empowerment and collaborative efforts, towards building a supportive ecosystem for MSMEs to thrive.

“At Wema Bank, our approach is ‘Give a man fish, he will come back, but teach a man to fish, he will learn to fend for himself and others’.

“Technology and digital are the future, and intelligence is here to stay. What we are doing for these MSMEs is beyond providing the finances they need. We are also focusing on empowering them with relevant and transferrable digital skills to ensure they are not left behind in this digital evolution.

“We often ask ourselves what are the skills they need to sell in this fast-growing digital world? To operate effectively? To compete? To maximise the resources at their disposal? These are the questions that drive us at Wema Bank.

“The goal is digital empowerment for scale and to maximise our impact, we continue to partner with several esteemed bodies and institutions across the world, from Banks to Agencies, Regulatory organisations, etc.

“Collaboration for us is continuous so from small alliances that allow us to empower smaller businesses through significant platforms within their ecosystem to the bigger partnerships like the FGN-ALAT Digital Skillnovation Programme.

“We will continue to combine efforts and pool resources together to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive, provide financial support and other resources that these businesses need and empower them to skillfully utilise the resources available to them for maximum impact and growth”.

Wema Bank continues to prove its mettle not just as an enabler for MSMEs, but also as the partner of choice for all.

At the event, the Bank also awarded a brand-new car to the female winner of the “Outstanding MSME Clinic” award category, in addition to the N2,000,000 prize slated for this category.