The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, confirmed during a workshop in Lagos that there has been improvement in the pace of the funds’ disbursement in the last few months.
Adding that local firms’ participation in marine vessel investment had grown to 30 per cent from the five per cent it was when the Nigerian content law was signed to law.
“Foreigners’ participation in marine vessels was around 95 per cent when NCDMB began the campaign for local content development. It had now paved the way for growth of local participation by coming down to about 70 per cent.
“The local companies’ participation before this was less than five per cent but today after three years, it has grown to about 30 per cent.
“Our target in the next seven years is to surge the local participation to 70 per cent and invariably reduce the participation by foreigners to below 30 per cent.”
Executive Secretary, NCDMB
Represented by General Manager, Corporate Communications, Mr. Ginah Ginah, Wabote maintained that indigenous firms had accessed 70 per cent of the $200 million Local Content Intervention (LCI) funds domiciled in the Bank of Industry (BoI).
Wabote while describing local content as a global scheme maintained that the idea was “known to have been popularised by the quest for economic independence by the United States from the Great Britian.”
Though the U.S. was able to secure political independence, the country is, according to him, “still importing key goods from Britain and it perceived this as lack of economic liberty, which was planned to be checked through the Marshall Act.
“This scheme was said to have contributed tremendously to the greatness of the U.S. today.
“Like the US, other countries have adopted this template even though they come under different policies and nomenclature,” Wabote said.
It was discovered, according to NCDMB, that $380 billion capital flights loss were recorded before the NOGIC Act of 2010.
“This huge loss also included two million job losses to countries where finished products are being imported,” he said.
Two scales, Wabote said, were used, “these are domestication and domiciliation.” Adding that it is not a naturalisation and nationalisation programmes.
