Niger is aiming to strengthen the participation of national companies in the oil industry and a workshop to connect local stakeholders with industry operators opened in Niamey, with the objective of further regulating local content through a new legal framework.
About 500 Nigerien companies are participating in a workshop dedicated to networking and operationalizing local content in the oil sector, which opened Monday at the Mahatma Gandhi International Conference Centre in Niamey.
The workshop was launched by Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, in the presence of key stakeholders involved in this policy, including local companies, banks, law firms, notaries and accountants.
At the opening of the workshop, a ministerial panel of the Ministers of Petroleum, Finance, Trade, Vocational Training and Justice presented the challenges and mechanisms of local content in the oil industry.
The discussions focused on ways to increase the participation of Nigerien companies in activities related to the sector, a practice that already existed informally.
It now needs to be formalized through legislation and regulations.
The Nigerien government recently adopted an ordinance on local content in the petroleum sector, which now forms the legal basis for this new policy aimed at structuring relations between oil operators and national companies.
Several presentations and business meetings between the participants are planned during the workshop.
The Authorities hope to foster new partnerships between local companies and oil companies operating in Niger.
AC/fss/gik/APA