President Bola Tinubu has rolled out a set of new policy directives geared towards enhancing the investment environment in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

The move is aimed at positioning the country as the top investment choice for the oil and gas industry in Africa.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, revealed this information in a statement on Wednesday.

Ngelale highlighted that Tinubu’s objective is to eliminate barriers to investment, tap into the nation’s resources, and diversify the economy for the overall benefit of Nigerians. The President initiated amendments to primary legislation to introduce fiscal incentives for oil and gas projects, reduce contracting costs, streamline processes, and enhance cost efficiency in local content requirements.

Ngelale outlined specific directives issued by Tinubu to expedite investments:

Introduction of Fiscal Incentives: The President has introduced fiscal incentives for non-associated gas, midstream, and deepwater developments.

Contracting Process Streamlining: A directive to streamline the contracting process, compressing the contracting cycle to six months.

Balancing Local Content Requirements: The application of local content requirements without impeding investments or compromising cost competitiveness.

Ngelale emphasized the urgency in accelerating investments, indicating that the details of these policy directives will be officially communicated by the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation.

“These incentives were developed in collaboration with various government ministries and agencies, including 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,” Tinubu further explained.

To ensure the timely implementation of these directives, Tinubu has instructed the Special Adviser to the President on Energy to continue coordinating efforts among the relevant stakeholders.