By Ken Afor
Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Wednesday signed three executive orders aimed at enhancing the investment climate and positioning Nigeria as the preferred investment destination for the oil and gas sector in Africa.
In a statement released on Wednesday by Mr. Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, the executive orders include the introduction of fiscal incentives for oil & gas projects, reduction of contracting costs and timelines, and promotion of cost efficiency in local content requirements.
According to the statement, “Recognizing the urgency to accelerate investments, the President has directed as follows:
(1) Introduction of fiscal incentives for non-associated gas, midstream and deepwater developments.
(2) Streamlining of contracting process to compress the contracting cycle to six months.
(3) The application of the local content requirements without hindering investments or the cost competitiveness.
“The details of these Policy Directives will be gazetted and communicated by the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation.
“These incentives were developed in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Justice, Federal Ministry of Finance, Federal Ministry of Petroleum, Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Federal Inland Revenue Service, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board.
The statement added that the Special Adviser to the President on Energy has been instructed to keep coordinating relevant stakeholders to ensure the directives are implemented within a set timeframe.
