Oil&Gas Sector: Firstbank identifies funding as key to achieving local content
Group Executive, Energy Infrastructure, CBG, First Bank Ltd., Bashirat Odunewu, has identified funding as key to achieving local content in the county.
Odunewu, who spoke on Wednesday as one of the panellists at a session at the ongoing Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS), in Abuja, on Wednesday.
She said that funding projects that had local content remained a big challenge in the industry due to lack of return on investment.
“ Funding is the heartbeat of local content but what we have observed is that people don’t think of funding before signing a contract.
“It is very important to know that once you are pursuing a contract, you should be able to articulate how it will be funded,” she said.
She noted that most local contractors did not make use of professionals to manage finances, hence monitoring cash inflow remained a big challenge.
“I will like to advise contractors that to achieve local content, we must take funding as key.
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“Most projects that could drive local content could take between 500,000 dollars and 500 million dollars; it is imperative that they articulate the funding process well to enable the project not to fail.
“Part of why many contracts fail is that when they start and they don’t articulate the funding and management they begin to owe small contractors and eventually the contract will not deliver.
“We must take funding seriously if we want to achieve local content for economic growth and development,” she added.
