Oil and gas companies increasingly need to show three things at once: how they contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals, how they meet ESG expectations, and how much value their operations actually retain inside the host country. Treated separately, these three demands pull local content teams in different directions. The Local Content Matrix Training Course for SDG, ESG and In-Country Value Alignment, delivered by the Arab British Fellowship Training Academy, teaches participants to link them into a single working matrix instead.

The course sets that matrix-building work against the backdrop of the post-COP26 energy landscape — the shift toward energy efficiency, declining reliance on hydrocarbons, and the opportunities and risks this creates for the industry — and draws on UNDP's Atlas, which maps how the oil and gas sector contributes to the SDGs, complete with case studies of good practice. Through interactive exercises, attendees build their own matrix connecting ESG principles, SDG targets, and in-country value methodologies, then examine how supply and demand shifts, rising production costs, and changing investment patterns complicate the picture. Because SDG delivery depends on partnership, the course closes on stakeholder engagement and strategic alignment as the practical route to solving these industry-wide challenges.

Course Objectives

At the end of the course, attendees will be able to:

• Understand the oil and gas industry's role within the full scope of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the different ways the sector contributes to sustainable development.

• Build perspective on current energy transition pledges and Africa's strategic position within that shift.

• Learn how to improve existing local content models so they integrate cleanly with SDG objectives.

• Strengthen awareness of the stakeholders needed to drive and facilitate change across the industry.

Who Should Attend?

This course is ideal for:

• Employees with potential for career progression

• Functional Specialists supporting delivery of business goals

• Local Content Managers

• Local Content Professionals

• Social Performance Professionals

How Will Attendees Benefit?

• Comprehensive Understanding of Local Content Principles: Learn to design, implement, and manage a Local Content Matrix that fits national development goals, ESG considerations, and the SDGs.

• Strategic Alignment with Global and Local Policies: Align corporate operations with UN SDGs (such as poverty reduction, decent work, and industry innovation), ESG standards, and host-country localisation or value-retention policies.

• Enhanced In-Country Value (ICV): Develop tools for increasing local employment, growing local suppliers, and retaining more economic value within the host country, strengthening relationships with local stakeholders and regulators.

• Compliance, Risk Mitigation and Performance Measurement: Manage compliance risks from ESG reporting and local content obligations, and track local content outcomes and SDG impact through KPIs and reporting tools for investors and regulators.

• Trans-Sectoral Knowledge: Understand how localisation strategies differ across sectors, through practical examples from oil and gas, construction, and manufacturing.

• Competitive Advantage: Integrate sustainability and local value creation into operations to earn a stronger social licence to operate, win more tenders, and attract ESG-focused investors.

Module 1: Building the ESG–SDG–Local Content Matrix

• Regional industry dynamics, sustainability maturity, value chain, scope and scale

• Reviewing local content strategies through the ESG and SDG lens

• Operationalising SDGs through corporate systems, policies, and processes

• Ensuring local content strategies sustain in-country value

• Creating a matrix linking ESG, SDGs, and in-country value

Module 2: Aligning Local Content Strategy with ESG and SDG Delivery

• How existing local content strategies deliver ESG

• Which SDGs are currently being met

• Identifying stakeholders needed to deliver sustainable strategies

• Creating communication plans to build stakeholder relationships

• Updating local content strategy to achieve ESG and maximise SDG delivery

Module 3: Mapping the Oil and Gas Sector Against the SDGs

• An introduction to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals

• An introduction to the UNDP Atlas

• How the oil and gas industry impacts the SDGs

• Identifying key stakeholders for coordinating responses

• Key opportunities and threats to the industry

• Which SDGs are most relevant to your activities, priorities, and impacts

Module 4: The Energy Transition Context — Africa in Focus

• Overview of global energy markets

• Summary of COP26 outcomes

• Energy outlook: impact on oil and gas supply and demand

• OPEC world outlook

• The future of African oil and gas

Module 5: Building Buy-In and Sustaining Momentum

• Employee engagement

• Engaging with local communities

• Enhancing education opportunities

• Stakeholder engagement, for example developing a company water strategy

• Examples of the oil and gas industry's positive impact on the SDGs

• What's next for the African oil and gas industry