Dangote to engage Nigerian vendors in building refinery

Aliko Dangote

’Femi Asu

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, on Monday, said the management of Dangote refinery had agreed to select competent Nigerian vendors that would participate in the construction of the plant from the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Joint Qualification System.

The NOGICJQS, which is the database of available capacities in the nation’s oil and gas industry, is managed by the NCDMB.

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A statement from the NCDMB said the Chief Operating Officer, Dangote Refinery Project, Mr. Giuseppe Surace, gave the commitment at the technical meeting held by top officials of the company and the NCDMB at the refinery project site in Lekki, Lagos, last week.

Surace was quoted as saying there were many advantages in patronising the local market, adding, “Nigerian companies will get the first right of refusal. We will procure anything that is available in Nigeria.”

According to him, there are several Nigerian content opportunities in the company’s refinery and gas-gathering projects but interested companies must submit competitive bids and have technical capabilities.

He said, “The project is a private investment; hence, the strategy is to get the best quality anywhere in the world at the most competitive price.”

Surace advised local vendors to quote reasonable prices when bidding for industry projects, rather than “believe that they would win jobs because of the Nigerian Content Act, irrespective of expensive quotations they submit.”

He noted that the Dangote Group engaged the services of some Nigerian companies on its fertiliser project, which had reportedly reached an advanced stage of development.

He said the company was committed to doing the same with the 650,000 barrels-per-day crude oil refinery project, which would be completed in October 2019.

On his part, the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Mr. Simbi Wabote, said the board would assist the company in the utilisation of the NOGICJQS database to ensure that it maximised the utilisation of local personnel, goods and services in the construction and operations phase of the project.

He said, “The Nigerian Content Act applies to every player in the Nigerian oil and gas industry, and not just international companies. If Nigerian companies and investors procure everything from abroad, then the essence of the Act will be defeated.”