Joint Western & Central African (WACAF) Office and - ICAO

Air Transport is a key driver of the
ongoing transformation of Nigeria’s
infrastructure. No other transport sector
comes close to commercial aviation with
respect to the speed and efficiency with
which it can foster economic growth.
While upgrades to Nigeria’s groundbased
transport networks are indeed
vital for business and social needs, air
transport is felt to be the only sector
which can truly catapult the West African
State into a new development paradigm.
And civil aviation is already booming:
more and more today Nigeria’s inhabitant
are travelling by air. The growing middle
class of the State’s 150 million-strong
population represents enormous growth
potential and the flourishing tourist
industry and ever-widening business
opportunities represent important
complimentary prospects for growth.
Despite tough conditions faced by local
airlines, growth for both domestic and
international passenger traffic in Nigeria
has been running around 20 percent a
year. There has been a marked increase
in the pace and breadth of air transport
progress in Nigeria, with its newly
appointed Minister of Aviation, Princess
Stella Adaeze Oduah having assembled a
team of managers capable of overseeing
the massive programme of upgrades.
Since her assumption of duties in the
Ministry, duties in the Ministry, Oduah has
focused on revamping Nigeria’s aviation
infrastructure, improving aviation safety
and security and protecting consumers.
She has said that it is no longer business
as usual. In line with President Goodluck
Jonathan’s transformation agenda,
growth of the industry and provision
of employment opportunities will be
her topmost priorities.
H.E. Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
“The Administration of President
Goodluck Jonathan is committed to
continue to make significant investments
in the provision of aviation facilities
for safe, secure, environmentally friendly
air transport and for the sustainable
development of international aviation,”
Oduah emphasized.
The Nigerian Government has stressed
that it is going to use the aviation
industry to drive its economy, pointing
out that Nigeria has already fine-tuned
its economic development strategy by
One of Nigeria’s many tourist beaches (left) and the State’s famous Riyom Rock (right), a tourist
attraction in its Western Lagos region. Tourism is playing an increasingly important role in Nigeria’s
economy as air transport advances its growth and development.
STATE PROFILE — NIGERIA
preparing the aviation industry as
a launch Pad for future success.
As confidence in the sector builds,
Nigeria is positioning itself to take
advantage of both its substantial
population and its advantageous
location at the center of Africa. The
Nigerian Government sees its State as a
natural air transport hub and it is trying
to promote it as such for West and
Central Africa. It is working on various
projects in Lagos and Abuja to open
up the airspace and create more direct
flights to long-haul destinations. Future
growth will be fueled by new routes to
Europe, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific,
Latin America and North America.
With new routes and carriers there will
doubtless be a need for better airport
and airspace management. As with other
sectors in the transport industry, the
federal government is pursuing Public-
Private Partnerships (PPPs) as a costeffective
means to upgrade the country’s
airports. A study by the Technical
Cooperation Bureau of the International
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was
commissioned in June, 2009, providing
a roadmap for the State’s airport
concession programme. The vision
now being pursued is to make the four
major airports at Lagos, Abuja, Port
Harcourt and Kano the envy of Africa,
but to accomplish this funding is needed
from the private sector and there are
on-going communications with various
international groups that have expressed
interest in running these airports.
In order to avoid a situation where
investors cherry-pick the largest
operations and ignore Nigeria’s smaller
players, airports will be bundled into
PPP packages—a system that has
seen excellent results in other countries.
Some operational responsibilities,
such as fire-fighting and security, will
remain under the control of Nigeria, while
concession-derived assets will be closely
monitored to ensure that they continually
meet international standards.
REGIONAL REpORt - AFRICA - 2011 11