Nigerian govt to concession five airports

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, says the Nigerian government will concession five of the nation’s airports.

According to a statement issued Monday by Odutayo Oluseyi, the aviation ministry’s Head, Press and Public Affairs, the minister made this known while receiving the Regional Vice President Africa and Middle east of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Kamil Awdhi, at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.

The statement listed the five international airport for concession to include Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Murtala Muhammed International airport, Lagos, Port Harcourt International airport, Aminu Kano International Airport, and Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.

Mr Keyamo appreciated IATA for indicating interest to offer an advisory role to Nigeria and for coming in at a crucial time the concessioning is about to take off.

The move to concession the airports comes over a year after a similar plan initiated by former President Muhammadu Buhari was temporarily suspended by Mr Keyamo when he assumed office.

Background

Less than two weeks to the end of former President Buhari’s tenure, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the concession of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, and Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, to the Corporacion American Airport Consortium.

However, at the time, the move was faulted by the Nigerian Senate during a plenary presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin. By the agreement on the concession, Corporacion America Airports Consortium will make an upfront payment of $7 million to run the Abuja airport for 20 years and $1.5 million for Kano airport for 30 years.

The total revenue from the concession of the two airports during the period is estimated at over $4 billion.

In September last year, Mr Keyamo suspended the move to concession the airports and ongoing plans for Nigeria’s National carrier ( Nigeria Air) less than two weeks after he was sworn in as Aviation Minister

Infrastructural decay

On Monday, the Minister said the level of infrastructure decay within the aviation industry calls for urgent action. He said going by the geographical location, Nigeria is the aviation hub for Africa and the world at large.

According to the statement, Mr Keyamo called for investors to avail themselves of the opportunity, noting that Nigeria’s aviation industry is strategic for both local and foreign investors.

He appealed to IATA to speak to other Investors that President Bola Tinubu led government is paying huge sacrifice to reposition Nigeria aviation industry to a global standard.

The minister stated that with the return of Italian Airline and United Arab Emirate, the government is putting a lot in place to open the market for all operators.

In his remarks, Mr Awdhi, Regional Vice President Africa and Middle East-International Air Transport Association, stated that the essence of the visit was to make IATA’s interest known that it is willing to offer an advisory role to Nigeria in the concession process.

He emphasised the need to organise a workshop to educate the stakeholders on the need for concession and to know that the concession plan is different from privatisation.

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According to the statement, the official noted that IATA is ready to support Nigeria to develop her aviation sector, because Nigeria is in the eyes of the world as far as the aviation industry is concerned.

He said IATA is on the verge of signing a MoU with the NCAA to audit all aircraft flying in Nigeria.