The Secretary-General, African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC), Ms. Adefunke Adeyemi says “aviation adds $2.5 billion to Nigeria’s GDP and supports roughly 216,700 jobs.” Mrs. Adeyemi noted that the figure is “an increase from $1.7 Billion last year.”
Ms. Adeyemi stated this while delivering a presentation titled, “SAATM: Unlocking Nigeria’s Aviation Potential” at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) National Aviation Conference (FNAC) 2025 held in Lagos, Nigeria. The Conference explored the theme, “Elevating the Nigerian Aviation Industry through Investments, Partnerships and Global Engagements.”
The SG reiterated that the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) is a strategic roadmap to transform Nigeria into Africa’s aviation powerhouse and noted that the above figures are the aviation sector’s current contribution to Nigeria’s economy while highlighting the untapped potential that SAATM implementation can unlock.
Focusing on Nigeria’s opportunities and competitive advantages that need to be adopted to see to the full implementation of SAATM, Ms. Adeyemi reiterated that: “Nigeria has a unique combination of demographic scale, economic strength, and strategic geography that creates unmatched potential in African aviation.” She noted that Nigeria has the largest population in Africa, the largest economy in Africa producing a GDP over $440 billion, and a strategic geographic gateway, situated in an optimal location connecting West, Central and Southern Africa.
The SG noted that the Nigerian aviation sector faces challenges that constrains growth and inflate operating costs, which include: “limited direct routes and inefficient routing with only 35% of intra-African travel from Nigeria using direct routing, high ticket costs relative to Income levels, and infrastructure gaps and operational bottlenecks”. However, Ms. Adeyemi stated that each of the challenges “presents an opportunity for policy intervention and operational improvement”
Citing the Fifth Freedom Rights as “SAATM most potent tool for Nigerian aviation”, Ms. Adeyemi said: “Fifth freedom rights can transform Nigerian carriers from domestic operators with limited international reach into genuine regional players capable of competing with established African airlines while capturing traffic that currently flows through non-African hubs.”
Ms. Adeyemi note that decisive action is required in the operational, regulatory and financial areas of Nigeria’s air transport industry. She called for accelerating the implementation of SAATM, addressing valid concerns of domestic airlines, ensuring fair competition, transparency in prices, consumer protection, and reduction of operating costs amongst other interventions. Adeyemi invited Nigerian aviation authorities to reduce aviation taxes and airport charges that increase ticket prices, improve the availability of foreign exchange, implement easy application and approval visa processes for African travels in and out of Nigeria. She added, “let us unlock Nigeria’s aviation potential – not in theory, but in schedules loaded, fares paid, gates turning, and people moving.”