The role of local content policy in local value creation in Nigeria cannot be over emphasized. We have in place a structural frame work that drives policy Value and create Economic development in our society.

The question of how adopting local content policy (LC policy) benefits the economic growth of developing countries is hardly new but it’s a continuous debate that often centers on increasing the value-added that LC policy can create within the country. However, the level to which LC policy can achieve this goal this part of the world has not yet been ascertained. In Nigeria, the impact of LC policy on local value creation has generated divergent speculation.

However at Shelter Development Ltd. we have challenged ourselves to address this gap by assessing the impact of LC policy in influencing local value creation with particular reference to indigenous construction firms’ participation with backward linkages and job creation.

Our attempts confirm that LC policy has a positive and significant impact on local value creation. Though, we found that local value created in the Nigerian Construction industry as a consequence of LC policy is lower than the expected target. This implies that the implementation of the policy needs to be closely monitored to ensure its efficacy towards increasing economic development.

The dominant perspective on the regulatory role of LC policy is that the policy is a mechanism through which the benefits of a country’s endowed resources on economic development could be increased and also for trickling the wealth generated to the country’s people. The adoption of LC policy in the industry is also seen as a strategy to increase the participation of indigenous firms in the supply chain of the sector, to improve backward

linkage development (a means by which procurement of locally produced inputs and services is increased), and also to create more employment opportunities for the local workforce. Local value creation is considered to be a more important contribution to economic growth.

Our country can greatly benefit from this wealth. These resources have been used to transform economies, particularly in terms of indigenous firms’ increased participation, infrastructure development, job creation and backward linkage development.

With sound regulatory policies and good resource management, construction industry could play a significant role in local economic development of the country and could generate jobs through increased participation of local service firms. We want to also emphasize that such effects can revamp the local economy.

Low participation of indigenous firms in the industry is often attributed to the lack of patronage hinged on lack of capacity to compete and the inability to meet industry requirements in services such as fabrication and construction. To address these challenges, LC policy implementation can be enhanced through a regulatory act and the policy designed to build the capacity of indigenous firms and to provide more opportunities for participation in business.

The targets for LC policy in increasing local content development should be set progressively with linkages through which more job opportunities could be created.

With this proposition, we link the framework and develop a simple conceptual model to show the relationships between LC policy, infrastructure, indigenous firms’ participation, backward linkages and job creation. This framework signifies the expected out-come of the entrepreneurial implications of LC policy, which we practice. Our work force significantly records indigenous staffing and as one of the early advocates of local content in construction firms in the country we are poised for quality output and economic value.