A senior executive from TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited has challenged the prevailing approach to measuring local content success in the nation's oil and gas industry.
Moving Beyond Prescriptive Percentages
During a key panel session at the 2025 Practical Nigerian Content forum in Yenagoa, Mr. Obi Imemba, the Executive Director for JV Assets at TotalEnergies, urged the Federal Government to redefine its goals. He proposed a shift away from focusing solely on percentage-based benchmarks towards a strategy that maximizes the actual economic value retained within Nigeria.
The event, organized by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) under the theme “Securing Investments, Strengthening Local Content, and Scaling Production,” saw Imemba offer a critical perspective. This comes despite NCDMB's Executive Secretary, Engr. Felix Ogbe, recently announcing that Nigeria had attained 61 per cent local content, with an ambitious target of 70 per cent by 2027.
"So for me, in this area, what I can advance for, or what my company can advance for, is net value retention for the country," Imemba stated. He emphasized the need for balance, suggesting the conversation must evolve. "We should move from where we say it has to be 70% or 90% or 100% to start talking about value. Which one… what are we going to do to give us the maximum net value retention for Nigeria? That’s where we need to go. I think we are not yet there. Today, we’re still at that prescriptive level."
TotalEnergies' Track Record and Strategic Focus
To underscore his company's commitment, Imemba highlighted TotalEnergies' significant investments in Nigeria over the past decade. He pointed to major projects that have bolstered local capacity, including:
- The massive 200,000 barrels-per-day Agila FPSO investment.
- Strategic investments in key fabrication and integration yards like Ladol Yard in Lagos, Avion Yard in Port Harcourt, and FMC Yard in Omni.
- The development of the Ikike Project.
According to Imemba, these initiatives are part of a deliberate strategy. "We’ve been the most active and dynamic in terms of reshaping our portfolio. That is intentional. What we are doing is focusing on consolidating and accelerating investment and development in our operating portfolio," he declared, positioning TotalEnergies as the most dynamic operator in the sector over the last year.
Implications for Nigeria's Energy Future
This call for a net value retention model represents a potential paradigm shift in how Nigeria evaluates the success of its local content policy. It suggests moving from a compliance-driven metric to an outcome-based economic strategy. The argument implies that a higher percentage of local content does not automatically translate to greater wealth or technological capability staying within the country if the underlying value chain is not optimized.
The challenge now lies with policymakers and the NCDMB to consider how to measure and incentivize this net value, potentially leading to more nuanced regulations that encourage deeper integration of Nigerian businesses into the high-value segments of the oil and gas ecosystem, beyond just participation.
