Perspective · 2026-02-08

Local content rules are a strategy problem

Treating localisation as a compliance annex produces brittle structures. Treating it as industrial design forces clearer choices about partners, skills and timelines.

Compliance theatre

Tick-box schemes — shell partnerships, paper training plans, last-minute supplier swaps — fail diligence and often fail operations. Regulators and counterparties have seen the pattern.

Design early

If a licence or offtake depends on local participation, the partnering and capability plan belongs in the thesis, not in post-deal cleanup.

Measure what transfers

Jobs, procurement value, and skills transfer are different things. Pick the metric that matches the rule — and the metric that matches your own risk.

Advisor role

Our job is to make the trade-offs legible: speed versus depth of localisation, control versus access, optics versus durability.

← All perspectives