As part of efforts towards sustaining its position as one of the leading agencies under the current administration, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, has pushed for the acceleration of Nigeria’s hydrocarbon initiative through the establishment of Ammonia plant in Nigeria.
Simbi Kesiye Wabote, Executive Secretary of NCDMB, made this affirmation when he joined the Federal Government delegation to sign five strategic Memorandum of Understandings, MoUs, to boost agriculture, hydrocarbons and commerce development between Nigeria and the Kingdom of Morocco.
Describing the bilateral agreement as significant to the Nigerian economy, Wabote said it would further improve the country’s balance of trade which is currently skewed in favour of Morocco, through the export of Ammonia.
While stating that the agreement would also improve Nigeria’s per capita fertilizer application through importation of phosphate derivatives from Morocco, Wabote challenged the relevant parties to focus on accelerating the Final Investment Decision, FID, assuring that NCDMB would take equity investment for long term sustainability of the project.
He also canvassed for the setting up of a project management oversight structure to ensure project requirements and timelines are met.
He harped on the need “to determine manpower needs for construction and operations phase of the project and develop training programmes that will create the workforce pool from Nigeria and Morocco, and design collaboration framework between research centers in Nigeria and Morocco to develop technology solutions for maintaining the ISBL and OSBL units of the Ammonia complex.”
The NCDMB further stressed on the need to “leverage on Research & Development to develop innovative fertilizer blends that meet nutritional requirements of Nigeria’s native soil and develop project sustainability plan, to ensure seamless integration of host communities unto the project.”
Wabote reiterated that the NCDMB is committed to support the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources to realize the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative and will focus its support on taking equity investment and maximizing in-country value addition from the project.
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, led the Nigerian delegation to the agreement signing ceremony held in Marrakech, Morocco, while Anouar Jamali, Chief Executive Officer of OCP Africa, signed on behalf of the Kingdom of Morocco on Tuesday, March 2.
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, led the Nigerian delegation to the agreement signing ceremony held in Marrakech, Morocco, while Anouar Jamali, Chief Executive Officer of OCP Africa, signed on behalf of the Kingdom of Morocco on Tuesday, March 2.
Other members of the delegation included Governor of Akwa Ibom, Udom Gabriel Emmanuel; Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mele Kyari; Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar, Governor of Jigawa State; and Uche Orji, Managing Director of Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority.
The MOUs that were signed were for the support of the second phase of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative; Shareholders Agreement for the Creation of the Joint Venture Company to develop the multipurpose industrial platform and MoU for Equity Investment by the NNPC in the Joint Venture and Support of the Gas.
Other agreements are Term Sheet for gas sales and aggregation agreement, MoU for land acquisition and administrative facilitation to the establishment of the multipurpose industrial platform for gas sales and aggregation agreement.
Nigeria will also produce Ammonia and export to Morocco, and further establish an Ammonia plant in Akwa Ibom state.
The NCDMB has spent 10 years of positively developing local content in line with the current administration’s vision to transform Nigeria into a gas-powered economy by 2023.
