The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), has said that Nigeria was able to secure over $800 million in mining investments in 2024 alone, following a major policy shift requiring all mining licences to include local processing plans.
According to the board, Nigeria’s mining industry is undergoing a dramatic transformation, driven by its targeted local content policies.
Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr Felix Omatsola Ogbe, while showcasing the board’s policies at the African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit in Abuja, said its policies are now being hailed as a blueprint for industrial growth across Africa.
Manager, Corporate Communications of NCDMB, Dr. Obinna Ezeobi, in a statement, stated that at the heart of the reforms is the board’s strategic intervention in the barite value chain, a mineral critical to oil and gas drilling.
Ogbe outlined how the agency has spent more than a decade building domestic capacity, from certifying reserves in six states to mandating exclusive procurement from local processors through the Nigerian Content Equipment Certificate (NCEC).
He said: “Today, barite importation for drilling is prohibited in Nigeria.
“That didn’t happen by accident. It was made possible by deliberate policy instruments, stakeholder partnerships, and enforcement frameworks.
Represented by NCDMB’s Director of Corporate Services, Dr Abdulmalik Halilu, Ogbe said the interventions have boosted value retention, created jobs, and positioned Nigeria as a continental model for mineral-based industrialisation.
He stated that similar policies are being rolled out in the steel and pipe manufacturing sectors, including a 2022 directive requiring in-country sourcing of bare line pipes and oil tubular goods.
He said the reforms are reinforced by broader industrial support programmes such as the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industrial Parks (NOGAPS) and a $350 million Nigerian Content Intervention Fund managed in partnership with the Bank of Industry to scale up local manufacturing.
