The Nigerian government has announced a $200m Content Intervention Fund for indigenous service providers in the country’s oil industry.
President Muhammadu Buhari made the announcement in his speech on Friday, June 12 – Nigeria’s Democracy Day in which he outlined that the fund is expected to boost the participation and investment of Nigerians in the oil and gas sector.
This brings a total amount of $360m of such fund disbursed to local firms in the country.
As of July 2019, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), which manage s his fund had disbursed about $160m.
Buhari also announced that the government would soon be conducting a bidding process for 57 Marginal Oil Fields in order to improve revenue as the country faces dire fiscal crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is also expected to increase the participation of indigenous firms in oil exploration in the country.
Also, the president announced approval of a forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission, the government agency in charge of ensuring government commitment to the development of the Niger Delta region.
Buhari also announced that his government is commited to affordable housing in the country.
‘Our pursuit of affordable housing for the low and middle-income earners has received a boost with the delivery of 1,200 housing units, provision of 520 service plots with infrastructure through a Public-Private Sector partnership and the issuance of 868 mortgages totalling N7.7bn. Similarly, Home Renovation Loans totalling N16.2bn have been granted to 19,210 people,’ he said.
