By John Ikani
The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe on Friday, September 6, 2024 met with Dr Alex Otti, Governor of Abia State, at the Government House, Umuahia.
The meeting was on the request of the Abia State government for the participation of the NCDMB in the proposed Abia Innovation and Industrial Park (AIIP), Owaza, Abia State
The AIIP, which covers 1995 hectares of land, is made of industrial, commercial, and residential areas.
The project is expected to cost over USD 1.3 billion with the potential to create thousands of jobs.
The AIIP also hopes to harness the abundant oil and gas reserves within Ukwa for the development of the park and communities within the state and beyond.
The NCDMB participated at the groundbreaking of the AIIP in September 2023 and promised to share its experience with the state government to ensure that its park becomes a success.
The Board had completed the pilot phase of its Nigerian Oil and Gas Parks Scheme (NOGaPS) at Emeyal 1 in Bayelsa State and at Odukpani in Cross River State, and they will come on stream soon.
Other oil and gas parks being developed by the Board are located in Ikwe Community, Onna Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Oguta in Oguta Local Government Area, Imo State, and Ilaje, in Ilaje Local Government Area, Ondo State.
The Nigerian Oil and Gas Parks Scheme (NOGaPS) was conceived by the Board to develop facilities close to oil fields where manufacturing of oil and gas components as well as research and development can be carried out.
For the parks the Board adopted a shared-services strategy where it provides infrastructure such as power supply and utilities such as road network, water, waste treatment, and so on for businesses that will be located on the site.
This strategy enables manufacturers to focus on their core business of manufacturing rather than adding the role of power generation, road construction, etc to their operations.
This model is intended to reduce the operating cost for the local manufacturers.
