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The implication of this performance ranking He hinted: “we want to be the number one to Equatorial Guinea’s Punta Europa Liquefied
shows that NCDMB has delivered service in a government agency in the country, and we Natural Gas (LNG) complex (EG LNG), where
quality, efficient and effective manner in the past are working towards it. To achieve this, we are the delegation gained insight into facility oper-
six months to its diverse stakeholders. investing in our people, our service delivery and ations, challenges and successes. For Namibia,
Over the years, the Board has moved from the turnaround time in everything that we do.” the site visit provided a unique understanding
the 27th position in 2019 to being the most Wabote mentioned that the Board signed of how the facility operates, while for Equato-
improved MDA in the country and the 3rd posi- Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with key rial Guinea, the chance to share best practices
tion in 2020, and presently the 1st in the country. stakeholders in the oil and gas sector to ensure regarding gas monetisation in Africa.
Commenting on the report, the Execu- promptness and effectiveness in the delivery of Thereafter, several bilateral meetings took
tive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye its statutory responsibilities. He said: “At some place between the Namibian delegation and
Wabote explained that the “trend of the positions point, we challenged the oil and gas industry that Equatorial Guinea executives. Firstly, NAMCOR
the Board has been ranked shows the impressive we have a 15-day rule that anything they send to met with Juan Antonio Ndong Ondo, Director
level of work we have put into delivering quality us and they do not get a response within 15 days, General of Equatorial Guinea’s national gas
service over the years. With the right attitude, they should assume that it has been approved. company, SONAGAS, as well as Vicente Abeso
training, and support, we have achieved the Nobody has been able to take us to task on it Mbuy, First Deputy Director General of Equa-
number one spot.” because we meet the SLA that we signed.” torial Guinea’s national oil company (NOC),
He challenged staff of the Board that “whom NCDMB, August 31 2022 GEPetrol. During the meetings, parties dis-
much is given, more is expected. We would not cussed the role NOCs play in driving oil and
rest on our oars and we will continue to give our Namibia, Equatorial Guinea gas developments in Africa; the training and
utmost best and commitment to delivering qual- development of nationals; and the role gas plays
ity service to our stakeholders and also explore strengthen energy relations in boosting the local and regional economies,
areas of improvement.” with both SONAGAS and GEPetrol providing
The Executive Secretary thanked the Direc- with high-level visit key insight into strategies for gas monetization,
tors, General Managers, Head of Departments as well as the rapid developments of resources.
and staff of the Board, especially the Director of A delegation led by Hon. Minister Tom Following these meetings, Hon. Minister
Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr. Akintude Ade- Alweendo is currently in Equatorial Guinea, Alweendo met with H.E. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang
lana and his team which includes the SERVI- meeting with high-level industry executives and Lima, Equatorial Guinea’s Minister of Mines and
COM Team, the front desk staff, PEBEC reform touring the country’s LNG facilities. Hydrocarbons, with discussions largely centered
champion and reform agents. This week, a high-level delegation led by Hon. around how Namibia can secure investment
By this emergence as the top agency in the Tom Alweendo, Namibia’s Minister of Mines and fast track hydrocarbon development. Hav-
Ease of Doing Business Ranking, the NCDMB and Energy, is conducting a diplomatic visit to ing made two sizeable oil and gas discoveries
accomplished the target set by the Executive Sec- regional gas leader, Equatorial Guinea, with the this year, Namibia is committed to seeing these
retary in June 2021 when he signed the Board’s aim of strengthening energy ties and expanding developments come online as soon as possible,
SERVICOM Service charter. local content dialogue between the two nations. with insight from Equatorial Guinea key for
He stated at the event that NCDMB is pas- With the visit well underway, a series of bilateral helping the country realise this objective. In May
sionate about service delivery, and this is evi- meetings, site visits and collaborative discus- 2007, EG LNG’s first cargo was delivered, mak-
dent in the diligent and professional way the sions have paved the way for further cooperation ing it one of the fastest LNG projects in terms
staff discharge their statutory responsibilities to between the two nations. of the timeline it took from final investment
the oil and gas industry and execute all Board’s During the visit, the Namibian delegation decision to first cargo. As such, Hon. Minister
activities. comprising Hon. Minister Alweendo; Petro- Alweendo is hoping to replicate this achieve-
He asserted that as part of the Board’s leum Commissioner, Maggy Shino; and Man- ment, with both ministers emphasising the role
efforts to continuously improve service deliv- aging Director of National Petroleum Corp. local content will play.
ery, it trains the staff to improve their skills and of Namibia (NAMCOR), Immanuel Mulunga Speaking to the role of local content, Minister
competencies. among other dignitaries, conducted a site visit Obiang Lima encouraged the Namibian delega-
tion to work closely with the NOCs in order to
follow the success story of EG LNG. At the onset
of EG LNG, strong focus was placed on the
development of national staff as well as the inte-
gration of nationals into the EG LNG workforce.
This not only enabled world-class community
engagement between international oil compa-
nies (IOC) and the domestic workforce but sup-
ported the government’s local content agenda,
initiating further programmes to develop the
capacity of local vendors and contractors.
Hoping to mirror this success, a group of
Namibian engineers will stay on in Equato-
rial Guinea for the next four months, training
and working closely with Equatorial Guinean
nationals. For Namibia, this will be key as the
country unlocks the true potential of its oil and
gas resources.

P16 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 35 01•September•2022