The oil and gas sector, a major lever for economic and social development
In his governance program, he continued, the oil and gas sector was identified as a major lever for economic and social development in the newly awakened Côte d'Ivoire. Since 2011, the sustained efforts of all players in the sector and the State have been deployed in synergy to promote oil and gas exploration and production, as well as the development of major deposits in the infrastructure needed to distribute oil and gas products throughout the country.
Well before the Prime Minister, the Minister of Mines, Petroleum and Energy, Mamadou Sangafowa-Coulibaly, clarified what is meant by local content in oil and gas activities in Côte d'Ivoire, before saying how local content in these activities can impact Côte d'Ivoire.
He pointed out that local content in oil and gas activities covers the entire value chain of the oil and gas industry: exploration, development and production of deposits, sea or land transport, refining, storage, distribution of petroleum products, etc. He went on to say that local content in oil and gas activities covers the entire value chain of the oil and gas industry: exploration, development and production of deposits, sea or land transport, refining, storage, distribution of petroleum products, etc.
The concerns that arise are as follows: What market shares are allocated to service providers owned by Ivorian entrepreneurs? How much money is allocated to goods and services produced in Côte d'Ivoire? And how many Ivorian workers are employed in oil and gas activities?
Local content
Local content aims to provide satisfactory answers to these questions. It organizes the implementation of oil and gas activities in Côte d'Ivoire so that they benefit Ivorians in terms of an outlet for goods and services offered by Ivorians and a source of income or added value for Ivorian workers and entrepreneurs.
In Africa, local content has been in use for many years in countries such as Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Congo and Angola.
According to Sangafowa-Coulibaly, with local content, oil and gas activities are expected to bring Ivorians: More jobs; better positioning of nationals in company organization charts; more market share for Ivorian companies; skills enhancement for Ivorian workers through training courses aimed at them; capacity building for Ivorian training institutes through partnership agreements from which they will benefit; capacity building for Ivorian companies through contracts and partnership agreements from which they will benefit.
