The Federal Government on Monday said
foreign investors were free to take part in the planned concession of
the nation’s four major airports.
According to the government, the four
airports up for concession are the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport,
Abuja; Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos; Aminu Kano International
Airport, Kano; and Port Harcourt international airport.
The Minister of State for Aviation,
Senator Hadi Sirika, who disclosed this during the International Air
Transport Association’s Aviation Day 2016 celebration in Abuja, told
local and foreign participants at the event that the investment
opportunity in Nigeria’s aviation sector was huge.
He said, “The Nigerian economy has high
rate of return on investment in excess of 30 per cent. Its aviation
sector is full of opportunities, some of which include the concession of
airports (Abuja, Kano, Lagos and Port Harcourt); partnerships to
establish a national carrier; maintenance, repair and overhaul centre;
aviation leasing centre; and development of agro-cargo terminals and
associated infrastructure.
“Others are partnerships to upgrade the
Nigerian College of Aviation Technology; leisure and hospitality,
including hotels and resorts; logistics facilitation, including taxi and
car hire; cargo, courier, warehousing, clearing and forwarding;
catering and packaging; currency exchange, duty free and tourism guide;
and facility management.”
The minister, who was represented by the
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Mr. Sabiu
Zakari, noted that Nigeria with about 170 million citizens, was serving
the aviation needs of the West and Central African market.
He said, “This belt, with a population
of 600 million people, is with a total absence of any significant
aviation business. There is no strong carrier, no major maintenance,
repair and overhaul centre, no efficient airport; in fact, not even a
significant catering company.
“However, as bad as this may sound, it
will surely gladden the heart of an investor. So, therefore, Nigerian
aviation is as virgin as you will love it.”
Sirika noted, however, that despite the many opportunities in Nigeria, there were numerous challenges that must be addressed.
He stated that the government had been putting in place measures to mitigate the impact of such challenges
The challenges, according to him, are
foreign exchange remittance difficulties, cost and availability of
aviation fuel, high cost of aircraft maintenance, shortage of manpower
and dilapidated infrastructure.
Okechukwu Nnodim, Abuja/ Punch
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