Chris Kay and Eleni Giokos Lagos
NIGERIA was in talks with private investors to set up a national airline as it revamped airports and expanded air capacity, Aviation Minister Osita Chidoka said yesterday.
Nigeria would spend $2 billion (R23bn) within the next four years to rebuild old airport terminals and construct new ones as demand for air travel in the country swelled, Chidoka said. The government wanted to start a national carrier within the same period to tap into the growth.
“Conversations are on across many possible private sector organisations, both local [and] international airlines,” Chidoka said. “It will be commercially run.”
Nigeria signed a $500 million loan agreement last year with the Export-Import Bank of China to fund new terminals in four cities including the capital Abuja, the commercial hub of Lagos, the southern oil centre of Port Harcourt and the northern city of Kano. The contract was won by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation.
“We are totally changing the face of four key airports,” Chidoka said. Nigeria was studying “the possibility of attracting private capital to do that”.
The government is building 13 cargo airports across the country for the export of perishable agricultural produce.
About $1bn had been provided by the government for the current projects, with another $1bn to be spent within the project duration of four years, Chidoka said.
“Privatisation of some operations of the airports may be on the cards,” Chidoka noted. “We have to build infrastructure that matches our aspiration.” – Bloomberg