FIC REPORT (BAYELSA STATE) – The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and UN Women are strengthening efforts to increase women’s participation in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, with a renewed focus on improving access to the $40 million Women in Oil and Gas Fund.
The initiative is aimed at addressing the low uptake of the financing scheme and ensuring more women-owned businesses can access funding and opportunities across the industry’s value chain.
The fund, established by NCDMB in 2021 with an initial $20 million, was matched by the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) with an additional $20 million. Despite offering loans at a competitive 5 per cent interest rate, participation has remained below expectations.
The renewed partnership was discussed on Thursday when UN Women’s Country Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms. Beatrice Eyong, led a delegation to NCDMB’s Abuja liaison office. The delegation was received by the Board’s General Manager of Corporate Communications, Dr. Obinna Ezeobi, on behalf of the Executive Secretary, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe.
Discussions focused on identifying barriers preventing women from accessing the fund, strengthening women-owned businesses and introducing measures to improve their participation in the oil and gas sector.
Eyong proposed a study to investigate challenges such as documentation requirements, business registration, tax compliance and inadequate awareness of the financing scheme. She also advocated capacity-building programmes to integrate gender considerations into NCDMB’s project planning, budgeting and implementation.
Other proposals included vendor development initiatives, increased awareness of funding opportunities and affirmative procurement measures to create more opportunities for women-led businesses.
She commended NCDMB for its existing gender inclusion programmes and highlighted UN Women’s ongoing interventions in economic empowerment, leadership development and the elimination of gender-based violence.
Responding, Ezeobi reaffirmed the Board’s commitment to partnering with UN Women, noting that NCDMB had introduced several initiatives to promote women’s participation in the industry.
These include the $40 million financing facility with NEXIM Bank, the establishment of a Diversity Sectoral Working Group under the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum (NCCF), and support for women’s associations across the energy value chain.
He added that the Board had invested in training women entrepreneurs and business leaders in corporate governance, business sustainability and strategic management, while also encouraging women to take up technical roles and young girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Ezeobi acknowledged that women remain underrepresented in the sector due to limited access to technical education, finance and commercial opportunities, as well as longstanding perceptions of the oil and gas industry as a male-dominated field.
He expressed NCDMB’s readiness to deepen collaboration with UN Women to address these challenges and accelerate gender inclusion across Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
Ayayeibo Duncan Zuobom.
Assistant Chief Information Officer.
FIC Yenagoa Bayelsa
31st Oct 2026
