LOCAL CONTENT POLICY AS A TOOL FOR KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER BETWEEN INDIGENOUS OIL AND GAS FIRMS AND MULTINATIONAL OIL COMPANIES

The benefits of linkages or institutional networking for technological capacity building in indigenous firms oil and gas companies in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. Linkages within the economy is necessary to develop the ability to transmit and receive knowledge, skills and technologies, whether it be suppliers of components and raw materials, consultants, service companies or technological institutions. Both the indigenous and foreign firms stand to gain. For the indigenous firms, linkages present a fast way of upgrading themselves through transfer of technology, knowledge and skills, improvement of business and management practices, and facilitation of access to finance and international markets (UNCTAD, 2006). The Federal Government of Nigeria introduced the Oil and Gas Local Content Policy in the year 2000. In early 2010, an enabling legislation on the policy was signed with a view to strengthening the technological capacity of indigenous firms in the oil and gas industry. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Local Content Policy as a tool for knowledge transfer between indigenous oil and gas firms and multinational oil companies. The paper is largely a conceptual review based on extant literature. The findings from the reviewed literature revealed that as provided for by the Local Content Policy, partnership, training, R&D, funding, infrastructural supports and consultancy are critical linkage activities that significantly influenced the technological capacity of indigenous firms in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry. Key Words : Local Content Policy, Knowledge Transfer, Multinational Oil Companies, Indigenous Oil and Gas Firms CITATION : Emumena, D. E. (2023). Local content policy as a tool for knowledge transfer between indigenous oil and gas firms and multinational oil companies. The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management, 10 (3), 279 – 288.